40 Days of Summer
by secondchances2014
Summary: What actually happened that summer after Samcedes were spotted holding hands at the Lima Bean? Sequel to Never Saw It Coming and part 2 of my Wild Young Hearts trilogy repost.
1. Day 7: First Date

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor the film with the title suspiciously similar to this one. The idea came while listening to Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition while playing around with the format for the fic. This story is the sequel to my other one 'Never Saw It Coming'. It continues the story of Samcedes though a certain amount of the summer break. **

**(Just by way of explanation, I've counted the days from the beginning of their relationship not the summer break. Therefore, day 1 was the Thursday, day before Nationals when they had their first kiss in New York. Monday after school at the Lima Bean was day 5. I have switched this fic around so that it's now in chronological order so this is the new first chapter. It begins with Day 7 of their relationship.)**

** This was originally written in August 2011**.

* * *

Day 7: Wednesday

It was the final day of school, and the day of Mercedes' first date with Sam. As hard as she'd tried, he'd refused to even give her any hints of what was planned.

Being the last day of the semester, school was only a half day. Most of the Glee club were going to Breadstix together with some of the support musicians. She had somehow managed to beg off and everyone else had (wrongly) assumed that Sam would be working. Her parents had assumed that she would be joining the others at Breadstix and she'd somehow forgotten to put them straight on that too. What it meant, was that it left her with a whole afternoon and evening (although not too late) to spend with Sam. And Sam alone.

She was so excited throughout the morning that she was barely able to concentrate on her classes. Rachel had been gushing about something into her ear at some point during recess but she had no idea what it was even about. She'd just smiled and nodded in the right places, all the while thinking about what Sam might have planned for her.

She knew it had to be something simple. It's not as if he had any money to splash out on her. But she didn't care if it was an afternoon of babysitting those gorgeous siblings of his. Anything would be great, just to be able to spend some time together.

Mercedes had left school in a rush, making her excuses and not giving the others the chance to try to talk her into joining them for their meal. As with the previous two days, she had driven out of school, around the block a few times, then double backed to pick up Sam on one of the side streets nearby. He was carrying his guitar and a larger than usual backpack which appeared to be pretty heavy. Their first kiss when he first climbed into the car was starting to become her favorite part of the day. Too bad school was ending. It was a great routine to get into.

Today's kiss was extra special and she was reluctant to break it off. Her new found kissing skills had been honed into a highly pleasurable experience which she was always keep in replicating as often as possible.

"OK so I've waited long enough! What have you got planned for us?"

Sam simply grinned, "You'll see when we get there." Then he started to look serious, "It's not much but I hope you like it."

She placed her hand on his arm. "As long as it's with you, I know I'll _love_ it. Now shut up with your worrying and tell me where to drive!"

He looked at her with an expression of wonder at how amazing she was then told her to head to the library.

"The library?"

He nodded. "My plan is to sit in there and read you romantic Shakespeare sonnets all afternoon."

She chuckled. "No - I can't see you reading me Shakespeare! A couple of Marvel comics perhaps..."

It was his turn to playfully shove her arm, being careful not to interrupt her driving. "Just shut up and drive woman!"

* * *

As they pulled into the parking lot of the library, she still had no clue as to what was going on and Sam was still being as unhelpful as ever. She parked up and waited for instructions.

The library was a beautiful building. It was an old colonial style building which had once belonged to a very prominent member of the community. Having plenty of money and no living family he had bequeathed it to the town to be used as a library in his name after his death, to benefit the children he could never have. For more than a hundred years it had served that very purpose.

Sam took her by the hand and led her towards the entrance.

"Sam, we can't go in there with your guitar and all this stuff!"

"Who says anything about going inside?"

Just before they got to the main entrance, they turned off onto a small path that she'd never noticed before. It ran along the side of the library and continued behind it.

"Sam! Are we supposed to be here?" She was starting to get nervous. There was nobody else around and she felt like they were trespassing.

"It's fine," he assured her, leading her down the path as it narrowed even further before widening out at a large iron archway. They stepped through the ivy covered arch into one of the most beautiful little green spaces she had ever seen.

"Wow! A secret garden! I thought these places only exist in books and movies!" She was barely breathing in awe of the view in front of her. There were bushes of neatly trimmed roses, jasmine and other flowers she couldn't name and it filled the air with a beautiful perfume. It was like a miniature paradise. There were a couple of benches around the edge but Sam pulled her towards a large shady tree in the far corner. The space was empty of people except an old man who was tending to one of the rose bushes. The man turned to see who had come in, recognized Sam and nodded in acknowledgement to him. Sam waved back at him as they made their way to their chosen spot.

"Who was that?"

"He's one of the neighbors. They help look after the garden. It's something they've done for generations. He'll be finished soon."

"How did you find this place?"

"By accident. I was taking Stacy and Stevie to the library one time when Stacy ran off down the path and ended up here. It's actually public property, belonging to the library. But not a lot of people know about it. And they try to keep it that way. I like to come here and think in the quiet and the beauty. Or sometimes I just sit under the tree and read comics for hours just to escape. Anything to get out of being cooped up in that motel room. I met George (he nodded towards the old man) a few weeks ago. He, his son and his grandson all help look after the place."

"Well I think it's amazing. I can't believe I've been coming to this library for so many years but had no clue that all this was here! It's amazing!"

Sam had laid his guitar down, opened his backpack and was laying a blanket for them. She sat quietly on it as brought a series of edible goodies from the bag.

"Please don't laugh at me but I thought maybe for our first date we could do the whole English cream tea thing." He opened a tupperware container and showed her the contents. "I worked very hard for you in my home ec class this morning. My baking skills are no way on a par with yours, but according to the recipe, these are English scones, to be served with jam (not jelly) and butter. I also have cakes and fruit." More and more little packets kept coming out of the bag and collecting on the blankets. "The only thing I couldn't do was the hot tea, so I got us a couple of bottles of proper Southern Sweet Tea for you."

Mercedes was totally in awe of his creativity. And baking ability! She leaned over and kissed him softly. "These look amazing. And this..." she gestured to the garden and the picnic, "is way beyond perfect. I love that you came up with this idea."

Sam smiled a massive smile and put on an English accent. "Anything for you my lady! A beautiful woman deserves to be in a beautiful place and treated to the finest things!"

* * *

"Tell me one more time why you have to go away?" Sam was looking at Mercedes with huge puppy dog eyes which she was finding hard to resist. She giggled.

"I've already told you a million times."

"But surely there's some way that you can get out of it!"

She sighed. "Sam, it's only for ten days. We go to Florida every summer to go and visit Aunt Monica. My mom and her sister always used to be close but they're so busy with their careers it's really hard to spend time together. We always go and spend time with them. Plus I get to see my cousins. They're growing up to be really cute. Tasha is going to high school next year and her brother is starting to learn to play guitar. Then there's also the wedding of the century that I'm going to be bridesmaid for. My cousin Randelle will be devastated if I'm not there for her special day. She chose the date specially."

"I just wish you didn't have to go. I'll miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too. I wish I could bring you all there with me. I'm going to feel so guilty over there having fun and hanging out on the beach while you're all here struggling." She snuggled closer into the crook of his arm as they watched the sun starting to set.

She cut her eyes at Sam who was still pouting. "Sam it's _weeks_ away yet! But I'll be back before you know it. And I make it up to you. I promise."

His eyebrow raised, "And how do you propose to do that?"

"I'll make an extra-large batch of cookies when I get back." She laughed, knowing that wasn't the kind of answer he was hoping for.

He smiled absentmindedly as he stared at her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You of course! Of how amazing you are and how lucky I am to have you."

She nuzzled up against his nose. "The feeling's mutual. Never in a million years would I have imagined the two of us together. I couldn't imagine me with anyone, let alone with the hottest guy in the school!"

It was Sam's turn to grin shyly. "I think you mean the dorkiest guy in the school! But if you're offering complements I'll definitely take it!" He looked straight into her eyes, suddenly serious. "I still can't believe nobody snapped you up before me."

She shrugged, but he forced her to look at him as he continued. "Mercedes Jones, you are something really special, and from now on, I'm going to make it my life's mission to try and make you believe it too. I know this is the first time you've been out with someone and I promise I won't rush you. We've got loads of time ahead of us to get to know each other, have silly dates and grow together. I've learned from the stupid mistakes I made with Quinn. You are 1000% more than she ever was and you make me want to be a better person. Being with you makes me happy. And making you happy makes me happy too."

Mercedes squirmed a little. She still wasn't too good with complements but Sam seemed like he was really trying to get his point across, so she stayed focused on him. "You're beyond special to me Cedes. And I guess I still can't believe I have you all to myself!"

She laughed and touched his lips gently with her finger. He kissed the tip of her finger and asked, "So what are you thinking?"

She grinned, realizing that if she said something soppy she was liable to start crying and there'd been enough of the waterworks for now. She traced her finger along the outline of his lips. "I was just thinking about how beautiful your lips are when you speak."

He pulled the lips into an equally huge grin. "Ah yes, the old Trouty Mouth! All the better for kissing you with!"

"Oh yeah?" she teased. "Well in that case, I have just three words to say to you Samuel Evans!"

His eyebrow shot up. "And what may they be?"

"Make... it... so..."

And he did.

* * *

The sun had all but gone, and stars were rapidly appearing in the crystal clear sky. Mercedes reached over for the yellow hoodie that she'd brought with her and slipped into it as the day cooled into evening.

He reluctantly let go of her and reached over for his guitar. "We have now reached the point in the evening, Miss Jones, where I get to serenade you."

She giggled, "What are you going to sing?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Everytime I look at you, I'm so overwhelmed by how beautiful you are that all song words just fall out of my head."

She giggled louder. But he was serious. "I had planned to sing you something, but it's totally gone out of my head."

"Maybe you should do a Brittany and find inspiration from something around you."

He made a point of pretending to search intently around them before strumming a few chords and saying, "Okay, Mercedes I would like to sing a song to you. It's been inspired by the wonderful afternoon we've had today and it's called 'My Scone!'"

Mercedes fell apart laughing and so did he.

He watched as she fingered the yellow rose that he had sneakily picked for her, and thought about how it matched the top that she was now wearing.

"OK, I have something. It's inspired by the way you are right now, and the beautiful night:

_Look at the stars, see how they shine for you  
And everything you do  
Yeah they were all yellow.  
I came along, I wrote a song for you  
And all the things you do  
And it was called yellow.  
So then I took my turn,  
oh all the things I've done  
And it was all yellow._

His eyes never left hers, the whole time he was singing.

_Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
D'you know, you know I love you so  
You know I love you so_

_I swam across, I jumped across for you  
Oh all the things you do  
Coz you were all yellow.  
I drew a line, I drew a line for you  
Oh what a thing to do  
And it was all yellow_

_Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
D'you know, for you I'd bleed myself dry  
For you I'd bleed myself dry._

_It's true, look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine... _

(Song: Yellow by Coldplay)

Mercedes could have sworn that his eyes were glinting. Hers were barely dry herself. She had no doubt that he had meant every single word. And nothing she could have said would have done the moment justice so she leaned over and kissed him her thanks.

Her phone buzzed with a text and she sighed when she read it. It was her mom asking if she was on her way back yet. If it had been her choice, this most perfect, romantic first date would never end...


	2. Day 11: Family Day

**_The writing style for this chapter is different because it was originally written as the epilogue to NSIC (before I decided to continue it with a sequel.)_**

* * *

Day 11 (Sunday)

Sam was having a great day. Mercedes had sung in church and he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her singing blew the roof off. This girl's talents were totally underappreciated by Mr Schue and the rest of Glee club!

He'd been right. Her church had been just as he had imagined. There were only a couple of other white families there but they'd been welcomed so warmly it had taken them aback. It was as if they were already members of the congregation. They'd shared a row together with the Jones family. Mr Jones had sat in the corner with his wife. His mom sat next to Mrs Jones. Stacy and Stevie had both wanted to sit next to Mercedes so he had sat next to his mom so that Mercedes could have a child on each side of her. She had wanted to be near the aisle so that it would be easy for her to get up for her singing part. His father had left the motel early that morning as he did every Sunday. Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd bothered to come to church with them.

The music was as awesome as he had expected it to be, with a wide range of vocal types working together, and all getting a chance at a solo. The pastor was lively and energetic. He had to admit there'd had been times when he felt his head dropping in his church, especially after a hard week of school and multiple pizza shifts, but tiredness didn't even enter into his mind this morning and he found himself paying rapt attention.

It was a beautifully sunny day and the Jones family had walked to church. It was a short and pleasant walk back to their home. Mercedes was wearing a pastel purple halter 50s style summer dress with a sweetheart neckline and a full knee length skirt with shoes in a matching color. It came with a matching short sleeved bolero which she had worn in church (no bare shoulders) but she'd removed it as soon as they got outside and Sam was reminded of why he loved seeing her in dresses. He'd had to make sure he walked in front of her with Stevie so that he wouldn't be tempted to stare, or worse still, be caught staring Puckerman style!

At the house they were greeted by the most delicious smells. Chickens had been roasting in the oven while they were away and it was just a matter of finishing the prep for the side vegetables.

He smiled as he saw Mercedes singing quietly to herself while mashing sweet potatoes as he helped the children to set the table.

What got him the most was how friendly his mother and Mrs (please call me Alicia) Jones were with each other. They were talking together quietly while shelling peas. The two women were very similar physically. They were both of petite build, shorter even than Mercedes and slim. They probably wore the same size clothes although he could definitely see where Mercedes got her shapely backside from! And they both had dazzling smiles. He missed his mother's smiles. She didn't do it often anymore. Alicia's skin was flawless and if he didn't know who she was he probably wouldn't have put her a day over 28! And her eyes were the same wonderful big chocolate buttons as her daughter.

Mr (please call me Michael) Jones on the other hand, was a scary looking man. Sam remembered the surge of fear that had coursed through his veins the night of prom when he'd first met him. In stark contrast to his petite wife, he was tall, at least four inches taller than Sam, with a stocky build, a booming deep voice and a handshake stronger than a vice. Although his wife had an amazing smile, Mercedes had actually inherited his, complete with the dimples. Despite his appearance he radiated warmth, probably through years of having to put people at ease in the dentist's chair. But Sam was sure that if someone crossed him, the warmth would vanish at a moment's notice. And he never wanted to be that person who crossed him!

When all was prepared they sat around the table and Mr Jones took his wife's hand while he said grace. Again the kids had each wanted to sit next to Mercedes so Sam had ended up sitting between Stevie and Mr Jones. Despite the assurances, Sam just didn't feel comfortable addressing the man by his first name. It felt too disrespectful. And this was a man in who's good books he needed to remain. Any worries he may have had about topics of conversation were soon dispelled as they discussed their mutual love of all things sports.

Stacy clearly adored Mercedes, wanting everything on her plate to be identical to what her new friend had on hers and actually eating all of her vegetables because she saw Mercedes doing it. Stevie was happily shoveling food down like there was no tomorrow. Sam tried to gesture with his eyes for him to slow down, they didn't want the Jones family to think they didn't have any food at all! But it was no use. Besides, he had to admit, he food was amazing. There was only so much microwave mac'n'cheese and ramen noodles anyone could take before resenting it set in. And he was actually at the point where he missed eating such a variety of fresh vegetables at one sitting.

Conversation and laughter flowed around the table. Huge helpings of food were consumed by all and it was unanimously decided that they should take a break to make space before getting stuck into the cherry pie which Mercedes had made for dessert. At the back of his mind he'd worried that the kids would say or do something embarrassing but they were too in awe of the fun day they were having to remember the embarrassing conversation they'd had just before he left for New York. He forgot that children, unlike adults, have less of a tendency to overthink conversations once they'd passed.

The adults headed to the living room while the teens were left to wash and clear up, assisted by an eager Stacy and Stevie. Sam enjoyed the domestic time with Mercedes. Even with the kids around it was nice to just have some quiet relaxed time. Then, at Stacy's request they worked together to bake a batch of cookies to take back with them much to her mother's amusement when she came to the kitchen to see why the washing up was taking so long.

Sundays were traditionally a television free day in the Jones household (except for when her father was watching sports). So after returning to the table for obscenely large helpings of cherry pie and icecream (or just icecream in Stacy's case) they opted to play a game. Due to the numbers and the ages of the children Mercedes suggested Jenga which was clearly the correct decision.

Far too soon it was time to leave. Stacy had been too excited to take an afternoon nap and had yawned one too many times as well as becoming irritable and tearful.

Mercedes drove them back to the motel and watched as they entered the motel room, Christina carrying a Tupperware container with more than enough food for a full meal for the family the next day together with the fresh batch of cookies, Stevie proudly clutching the board game which they had been given and Sam, carrying a sleeping Stacy nestled in his arms. She jealously wished that she could be the girl in his arms at that moment. But not right now. They'd had the most beautiful first date during the week and that would have to keep them going until the next time.

They'd behaved perfectly during the day. Not ignoring each other but not singling each other out for too much attention either. It helped that they were never left completely alone at any point in the day. Just casual school friends. And her parents obviously liked Sam. That would make it easier when they break the news to their relatives.

Mercedes smiled to herself. Even though they had agreed to keep their relationship under wraps, she would never disrespect her parents by keeping them out of the loop for long. After all, they would need their support. And after the day they'd spent together, she was more than confident that parental support would be forthcoming from both sides.

As she pulled out of the parking lot and towards home, she had again had to suppress a squeal.

Mercedes Jones was one happy girl!

This was going to be a great summer!


	3. Day 12: Monday Lunches

Day 12 (Monday)

Mercedes woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Much as she loved being in bed she knew that it was time for her to get going.

Life was good. Yesterday had been an amazing day. Sam and his family had come to their church and then spent the rest of the day with her family. She couldn't have been happier with the way that the day had turned out. She loved Sam's siblings and she loved Sam's mom. She hadn't yet met his dad but if the rest of his family were anything to go by, he would also be nothing short of amazing.

The only thing that would have made the day perfect would have been a kiss from Sam. But they needed to be careful and just being in his presence was enough to keep her heart fluttering all thorough the day.

She took extra time and care over getting ready, choosing her outfit and scent with care before running downstairs to prepare sandwiches for lunch. Today she was going to see Sam again. It wouldn't be for long but they would be together. He was wonderful, he was handsome and he was hers! The shock and novelty of it was nowhere near wearing off yet.

Every Monday throughout the summer Mercedes had promised to volunteer at a small thrift shop belonging to one of the members of her church. It was a nice way to pass the day, handling interesting and unique stock including vintage items and chatting to the various customers who came in throughout the day.

Luckily for her the shop was only a few doors down from the pizza outlet where Sam worked. By taking her break late, after the lunchtime pizza delivery rush, she would have the opportunity to spend the hour with Sam and they could eat together.

She put the lunch items into the small cooler back and practically skipped over to her car.

* * *

They sat together under a tree in the green space next to the parking lot where Mercedes had left her car. It wasn't quite a park but it was a nicer location than the bench on the sidewalk outside her store.

Between them was a Tupperware container containing what seemed to be a whole loaf worth of sandwiches, filled with thick slices of leftover chicken and stuffing from the meal the day before. They drank homemade lemonade from red solo cups.

"Stacy was singing your praises this morning. She was upset that I was seeing you today and she wasn't!"

Mercedes laughed. "I only get you for an hour. It's not nearly enough."

He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "I know babe. But we just have to take what we can at the moment. At least we know we'll have this regular Monday date for the whole summer. That leaves us just 6 days of each week where we have to work out when we can discreetly see each other."

Mercedes sighed. "Actually Sam, I need to talk to you about that."

He shot her a concerned look. She smiled and nudged him playfully. "Don't be so scared!" But she did turn to face him, her expression serious. "My parents…"

"…Are lovely?" He finished the sentence for her.

She laughed. "I know that! But come on – we have to be serious Sam! I really think we need to tell my parents about us. Everyone else can wait until we're ready to come out with this, but I owe it to my parents to let them know. It's disrespectful for me to be sneaking around behind their backs and I'm worried that if we leave it too long we'll upset them and lose the support that we need them to give us."

Sam chewed slowly as he thought about it carefully and then nodded. "Okay. When do you think we should do it?"

"How about Saturday? You can come round for lunch and we can tell them together."

Sam sighed, rubbing his full belly and clearly thinking of delicious food at the Jones' home. Mercedes smiled at him, feeling a mixture of contentment and fondness for him.

"What time's lunch?"

"Usually at 1."

"That's cool. They're not expecting me at work until 5. This is a big deal. Should I wear a tie or something?" He shot her one of his lopsided grins.

She returned it. "Nah – they've already seen your bolo tie. There's no way on earth you'd be able to top that!"

The grins turned into a laugh as they basked in the warmth under the shade of the tree.

The break was soon over and they needed to head back to their respective places of employment. Sam sighs with frustration. "There has to be a better way!"

Mercedes' heart went out to him. "This is working fine for me," she said softly, gripping his hand, not wanting to let go, but knowing in a few short paces they would be away from the safety and shelter of the parking lot and out on the street where they'd have to let go of each other. Too much risk of being spotted.

* * *

As she re-entered the shop, she allowed herself to succumb to the heavy sigh which filled her body.

"So where did you go for your lunch?" Aunt Esther ran the shop. She wasn't really her aunt. She was one of those grey haired ladies from church who'd been there with her shop and her grey hair since everyone could remember. And everyone including her dad called her Auntie.

Mercedes didn't want to lie to her but knew that she couldn't be entirely truthful either.

"I sat out in the green space by the parking lot and ate sandwiches there. The weather was lovely and warm." There. That wasn't a lie. She just didn't give the full detail. "Did any extra customers come in over lunch?"

Aunt Esther nodded. "Somebody came in and bought that hideous green dress coat that's been hanging over there since winter. Apparently it's vintage and they wanted it to complete an outfit! I have to admit, I'm glad to see the back of it. I've been sick of staring at that ugly thing, wondering if anyone was going to take it off my hands. Did I tell you that I used to have one just like it in the sixties?"

Mercedes smiled. Yes, she'd already told her twice today, but she was going to listen again. Anything to take her mind away from missing Sam.


	4. Day 15: Spilling The Beans

Day 15 (Thursday)

"Hey mom. Do you think it would be ok if Sam comes to lunch on Saturday?" Mercedes hoped that her voice sounded casual but in her head it definitely had an edge of squeakiness.

"Just Sam?" Her mother stopped stirring the eggs in the pan and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

Mercedes avoided her gaze. "Er - yeah. His mom's taking the kids to play with another family from school on Saturday."

Alicia shot a look over to her husband who quickly hid his eyes and grin behind the newspaper that he was reading.

"Sure honey. Tell him we usually eat around 1."

"That's great. Thanks!" Mercedes didn't dare say anything more and was feeling extremely uncomfortable under the gaze of her mother. In an answer to the short prayer she'd silently uttered, her phone rang.

"Hey Kurt!" She answered it after half a ring. Never had she been happier for the interruption. She was so happy that for a moment, she forgot that the two of them hadn't had a proper conversation since they saw each other at the Lima Bean.

"Hi Cedes. Sorry I've been so quiet on you lately. I have exciting news! What are you up to at the moment?"

"Just finished breakfast with my parents. They're waving and saying hi."

"Right back at them! Have you got any plans for today?"

"No. I was just going to chill out around the house after my parents leave for work."

"Do you fancy spending some time together? We could hit the mall. Or I could just come and crash at your place."

"Either's good with me!"

"OK, I'll come round. That way we can speak gossip to our heart's content without worrying about being overheard by the wrong person."

"That'll be great. What about Blaine?"

Kurt paused slightly at the mention of his name. "He's performing at six flags today so I won't be seeing him until tonight."

Mercedes twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "So what's this exciting news?"

She could hear him grin down the phone. "You'll have to wait 'til I get there to find out!"

* * *

They sat together on Mercedes' bed. She missed the times that they used spent together doing this. It had been far too long. She folded her legs underneath herself and grabbed a handful from the packet of chips sitting between them. Kurt looked down at them distastefully. "You know you really shouldn't keep eating so much of that kind of stuff."

Mercedes shrugged and chose to ignore the comment today. She leaned forward, "So, what's this big news that had to wait for you to come over here to tell me in person?"

Kurt took a deep breath and the hugest smile she had ever seen crossed his face. "Blaintoldmehelovedme!"

Her eyes widened. She thought she'd heard him correctly but it was all said so quickly. "Say what?"

"Blaine said 'I love you'."

"Just like that?"

"Exactly." Kurt had one of her pillows and was squeezing it to death with happiness.

She was genuinely happy for her friend. Much as she often felt like the third wheel with them, she knew how long he'd been waiting for happiness. "So when did all this happen?" She wanted to know every detail, dreaming of the day she would finally get her own 'I love you' and hoping it wouldn't be too far away.

"Last Monday after school. We met at the Lima Bean. It was the first chance we'd had to see each other since New York and I was filling him in on all the drama that had happened. He was amazed that I wasn't more upset with the drama. But really, all things considered, I've had a pretty good year. Yes my dad was sick but then he got better and got married. I gained a new mother and a brother. Yes I got bullied but then if I hadn't gone to Dalton I would never have met Blaine. And of course New York and singing on stage was amazing. I have so much to be thankful for. Then he just looked at me with those huge puppy eyes of his and said it. He said 'I love you'! I almost choked on my coffee. His timing was the worst as I'd just taken a mouthful and it would have been awful if I sprayed it out all over him!"

Mercedes laughed so hard she nearly fell backwards on the bed. There was no way on earth that Kurt Hummel would ever spray coffee out of his mouth. She, on the other hand, would probably have had it coming out of her nose...

"Kurt I am so happy for you!"

He grinned. "I'm happy for me too."

And she leaned forward and flung her arms around her friend. Suddenly she pulled back, putting him at arms length and looking at him sternly. "Did you say it back?"

"Of course!"

She let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I just needed to swallow the coffee first. I would have said so just now but you were laughing so hard."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I know there is no way on earth you would have sprayed coffee out all over him."

Kurt chuckled. "Unlike you who probably would not only have sprayed from your mouth, but would also somehow manage to get some to come out of your nose at the same time!"

Damn that boy was always able to read her well! She suddenly felt nervous but pushed the feeling aside. "So where do you guys go from here?"

He shrugged. "It's not official yet but Blaine is trying to see if his parents will allow him to come to McKinley. Can you imagine, Blaine Anderson in the New Directions!"

"We'll definitely win nationals next year!"

"Precisely. And I get to see my boy every day at school. I don't think it could be more perfect."

"What about Karofsky?"

Kurt sighed, "I think he'll be ok. He's apologized and I think he truly means it. He'll be too busy fighting his own demons to make trouble for us."

Mercedes thought it through. Kurt seemed to know more about Karofsky than he was letting on, but she wasn't about to start giving him the third degree about it right now. If she didn't have Sam she would have been less enthusiastic about the idea of Blaine joining them at school, but now that she had her own distraction, she could be more tolerant of the changes going on in Kurt's life.

"So what did you talk about after he said the 'I love you'?"

It was Kurt's turn to grin again. "Well it was at that point that we were interrupted by a beautiful diva called Mercedes who was buying coffee with her Pippa Middleton ignorant friend."

She avoided his eyes. "Oh no! I interrupted the crucial moment! You guys must really hate me!"

"Nah, it was getting a little intense for a coffee shop. Your arrival broke the tension a little."

"And clearly Blaine's audition for Six Flags was a success."

"Indeed it was! So anyway, that was my exciting news. What's new with you? We've not had a chance to catch up properly since New York!"

_Well there's this really cute boy I really like from school and we've just started secretly dating..._ Instead she sighed "There's nothing new. I'm back working at aunt Esther's every Monday for the summer."

"Cool." He seemed disappointed like he was expecting more.

Mercedes sprung up, desperate to change the subject. "How about I make us a nice healthy lunch? There's chicken in the fridge and loads of fresh salad ingredients."

Kurt looked at his watch, then back at her then nodded.

"Yeah I guess I could do lunch..."

* * *

Kurt was shifting lettuce leaves around his plate. His mind was clearly on something.

"Don't you like the salad?"

"No - the salad is amazing. You know how much I love balsamic vinegar."

"Then what is it? You've suddenly become quiet again."

He put his fork down, rested his chin in his hands and fixed his gaze intently on her. Mercedes became instantly nervous again. She didn't like that look.

"I was just thinking about when we met in the Lima Bean…"

Oh man. He knows something! "Are you thinking about the 'I love you again'?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not this time."

Mercedes blushed and looked at her plate. If there was one person who could always see straight through her, it was Kurt Hummel and he was doing it right now.

"Mercedes. Don't forget I'm one of the few people who can easily actually tell when you blush." He didn't break the gaze. In fact, it became more intense. And there was another expression in his eyes, one that she found a lot harder to read. "I thought we told each other everything. Were you never going to tell me about you and Mr Adonis, also known as Sam? I gave you the perfect opportunity upstairs but you still didn't take it. You just kept changing the subject. That really hurt!"

She felt terrible. She hadn't meant to hurt him.

"Kurt I-" a tear rolled down her face.

He took her hands in his. He was hurt, but he wasn't yet mad at her.

"We haven't told anyone yet. We're going to tell my parents on Saturday. You were next on the list i promise!"

He nodded silently.

"Mercedes Jones, you are the worst liar known to man! _'We just ran into each other in the parking lot.'_ Did you honestly expect me not to notice that something was up?"

She smiled weakly. Of all people to guess something she knew it would be Kurt.

"Okay, just start from the beginning and I might consider forgiving your huge insult to our friendship." He picked up his fork and resumed chewing on a piece of celery.

"I guess it all began with prom."

"Prom? Oh wait, yes you had that weird date thing going on with Rachel. I had meant to ask you all about it but I was caught up in all that prom queen/Karofsky drama."

"Well, Rachel had added Jesse St Jerkoff to the group so we were now an even number."

His eyes widened. "Jesse St Jerkoff! That's a new one! I bet Sam coined it."

Mercedes smiled and nodded. "Those two only had eyes for each other all evening so Sam and I ended up talking a lot and getting to know each other. I'd never really spoken to him properly or had much to do with him before then but I found that he was refreshingly different. He may look like a jock but he doesn't really act like one. We've got similar tastes in movies and computer games and actually had a really good laugh that evening. Then, when Rachel was singing he came and gave me my Cinderella moment. He told me I looked beautiful and asked me to dance. I thought Rachel had put him up to it but really he had told her that I looked beautiful and he had wanted to dance with me. After the slow dance which was amazing I thought he would just go off, but he stayed dancing with me for the rest of the evening. Really fun stupid goofy stuff. We laughed so much I was in pain! Then when we got back he was the perfect gentleman, opening the car door for me, telling me I was beautiful again, giving me a flower and kissing my hand. It was like a dream."

Kurt was incredulous. "How did I miss all of this?"

"You had a night filled with drama, and after you danced with Blaine, you guys sort of disappeared."

He thought back and agreed, blushing slightly.

"Anyway, the next few days I tried to think nothing of it. We were just friends. He'd always gone for skinny pretty girls like Quinn and Santana. But now he would stop and chat in a way that he never used to. And when I babysat he sometimes would hang back a little more than usual. We had some pretty deep conversations and he opened up to me in a way that I never expected. Then came the day that he was supposed to go to your place for a movie but you were sick."

"Yes I remember. What was he doing at your place anyway?"

"Oh, he was just returning a cookie container en route to yours. But what you don't know is that after you cancelled he stayed back at mine and we ate lunch and watched the extended version of Avatar."

"Aaaargh! Not that dreadful movie with the blue aliens! It's already a million hours long. How could there possibly be an extended version?"

Mercedes smiled and smacked him. "Don't diss the movie. It's one of my favorites too! He was so fun and relaxed. When he's around everyone he has to try hard not to act like a dork but around me he can just be himself. After he left I realized that I was starting to fall for him. But I knew he was way out of my league and after what happened with you I decided to keep my mouth shut and ignore it. I was fine until he got sick."

"I did wonder how you were the first to know about that!"

"He came home early from work while I was babysitting so I helped Stevie and Stacy to look after him. We were all snuggled up on the bed together and it felt so perfect. Then the next day we worked on some of his missed assignments together and I could have sworn there was chemistry. But when he came back to school and came into Glee club with Quinn it broke my heart."

"That was the afternoon I felt like I was having a one sided conversation with you in the Lima Bean!"

It was now her turn to push salad around the plate. "Yeah. Sorry. I was feeling so hurt and stupid that day. I really really wanted to tell you but I was worried you'd do some of your straight talking, telling me I needed to get over my nonsensical crush, and I really wasn't ready to hear it yet. New York was weird. At the airport he was really nice to me then he totally ignored me for the first day. But finally, he took me out for a walk, told me that I was beautiful and kissed me! It was the most amazing thing ever and I'm ashamed to say I cried my eyes out! It was very un-diva of me!"

"I knew it! That was the day of the pillow fight when you shot me down for questioning why you were gone so long! I thought you were singing a little too enthusiastically afterwards.

She nodded sheepishly. "And the rest, as they say, is history. We've only been on one date so far, but once things are out in the open with my parents he should be able to hang out around here a lot more."

"So why all the secrecy?"

"A few reasons. Firstly we got together the day before Nationals. Last thing we needed was more drama for Glee club at a time like that. And it's a good job we did keep quiet considering what happened. Secondly, relationships within Glee are always drama. We don't want to go that way just yet. Can you imagine how things might kick off when Quinn finds out! Especially when we used to be so close. Then there's the opinions of others. I know we don't really care what others think, but this is all so new and it's something we'd rather not have to face yet. Puck and Lauren get so much stick for being together and we're not stupid, we know there'll be those who have a problem with us too. And lastly, we just want to have a bit of time to ourselves. Just us. Being together and happy. We want to be the ones to tell people about it ourselves rather than people hearing through the grapevine. At the moment we're in the honeymoon period of our relationship. We just want to enjoy it for a while before reality bites. Besides, you waited ten days to tell me about Blaine. What made you wait?"

"I guess partly because I wanted to cherish it. My special moment. I didn't want to share it until I was ready. I wanted to share it on my terms. And I've been crazy busy with my work on Pip Pip Hooray." He grinned, "_Plus_ I was waiting for you to tell me about Sam first!"

She waved her fork menacingly at her best friend and he laughed. "I guess we can call it quits now."

Mercedes got up from her seat, pulled him into a hug and gently kissed his forehead.

"Yeah I guess we can," she smiled.


	5. Day 17: A Little Chat

Day 17 (Saturday)

Sam Evans was feeling extremely nervous. Probably more nervous than he'd ever been in his whole life! But this was something that he just had to do. Mercedes would probably freak out if she knew what he was doing. But as long as she wasn't the one to open the front door he should be ok. By the time she found out what he'd done, they would both be in a position to laugh about it. Sometime in the distant future. After she'd killed him then resuscitated him.

Hopefully...

If you turn and run right now you'll be far enough away before the door opens...

He fought back the fear as he noticed a silhouette behind the door. He heard laughter before it was flung open. His eyes were met by a pair that were a stranger to him. The young black man was of a similar height to Sam but far stockier and his eyes were more hazel than dark brown. He recognized them from the family portrait in the hallway as belonging to her brother Jamal.

Shit! This was not part of the plan! And it wasn't too late to back out...

"Hi! My name is Sam!" _Whatever you do don't say the Sam-I-Am green eggs and ham part! _He held out his hand for a handshake, hoping the palms were still dry from their last wipe down. "You must be Jamal."

He was met with an expression of confusion. He could see the boy's eyes roam down to the two flowers clutched in his hand then back up to his mop of blond hair.

"Er - yeah. Hi!"

"Who's at the door JJ?" He heard Mrs Jones' voice ring out from the kitchen area.

"Um, some guy called Sam?"

Announce my arrival to the world why don't you! Sam frowned and hoped Mercedes hadn't heard. If he was correct, she should be safely upstairs in her room listening to loud music and chatting on Facebook.

Jamal was eyeing him suspiciously when she poked her head out and said, "Oh hi Sam! We weren't expecting you for another hour! JJ stop standing there and let our lunch guest in."

Sam slipped in through the door and went over to her, holding out one of the roses. "This is for you to say thank you for the meal."

She smiled broadly and touched her heart. "Well thank you Sam. I wasn't expecting anything but this is beautiful." He followed her through into the delicious smelling kitchen. She watched him carefully lay the other flower on side and said, "Mercedes is upstairs. I'll call her down for you."

"N-No thanks. I actually didn't want her to know that I was here yet." Her eyebrow shot up and she gave him the same smiling curious expression that her daughter always had. "I take it you met my son JJ? He came up last night as a surprise to visit us for a few days during the college summer break. JJ this is Sam. He's in Mercedes' singing club."

He looked back at the teen who was still eyeing him suspiciously. Sam couldn't blame him. He knew how he would be doing the same if facing a similar situation.

The larger boy nodded to him and said, "Y'alright!"

Sam nodded, unsure what he should actually say to him and feeling more and more awkward by the second. Luckily JJ was in the middle of playing Halo and was happy to excuse himself.

"Can I fix you something to drink?"

Sam accepted a root beer.

"So what brings you here so early?" Just like Mercedes, her mother didn't beat around the bush.

He took another deep breath. "Actually I wanted to talk to you. And Mr Jones." There. He'd said it.

She nodded silently. "Let me put the cornbread in the oven and I'll take you to him. He's in his office." It seemed to take her forever to pour the prepared batter into the tray and get it ready to bake but finally she was done. She removed her apron and led the way.

If it had taken forever for her to finish the cornbread, then it was taking an absolute age to travel the ten or so paces to Mr Jones' office.

The door was open and his wife stuck her head round first. "Michael, there's someone here to speak to us."

Sam followed in behind her. The office was small with a computer desk, shelving units full of medical books and a small two-seater sofa. Mr Jones spun around from his computer, his face initially one of confusion, turning to a smile when he saw who it was. "Hi there!" He gestured over to the small sofa for Sam to take a seat while his wife perched on his knee, dwarfed by his huge frame yet comfortable and at home there.

Sam regretted leaving his root beer in the kitchen. His mouth had suddenly become dry and it felt like his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth. He tried taking a couple of deep breaths. _Rutxe tìng oe tìtxur!_ He uttered a silent prayer in Na'vi. Then he added to the prayer to help him not to slip into speaking aloud in Na'vi and making a fool of himself due to his nerves. As with his declaration to Mercedes in New York, he wished he'd spent less time being nervous and more time thinking about the words he was actually going to say. The silent pause felt like it lasted a lifetime.

It was Alicia Jones who finally put him out of his misery. "Are you sure Mercy didn't set you up to this?" Oh man, they're on to me!

He looked up at her, shaking his head and suddenly realizing that he'd been staring down at himself wringing his hands. "No. She thinks I'm coming at one... This is something I need to do for myself." He looked over at the two sets of expectant eyes. They weren't glaring. They were just patiently waiting. He guessed that was as promising a start as he could expect…

He finally bit the bullet. "Sir, I really like your daughter!"

Mr Jones' facial expression didn't change, but his wife shot her husband a look that said 'I knew it!'

"I know we're only sixteen and my family's going through a really rough patch at the moment, but we really enjoy spending time with each other. Mercedes is a really amazing person as you already know and I'd really like the opportunity to get to know her a bit better. I know that for various reasons this may not seem like the most obvious of relationships and there will be those who might have their issues with it- but I'm sure we'll be able to get through anything together."

Mr Jones stayed silent and Sam started to panic, his mouth runnng away with him more and more now that the floodgates had been opened.

"It's not like I'm here asking to marry your daughter!" The man's eyes widened and Sam audibly groaned. "I mean - what I'm trying to say is that before things get serious, I really wanted to have your acceptance and blessing. This is all really new to me and er... I was brought up to be very old fashioned and respectful, and to me, this is the most respectful way that I can go about it. I wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't know that you were ok with it too. We were supposed to tell you together over lunch today, but I wanted to do this properly. We haven't told anybody about this yet and we wanted to come to you first."

Sam physically put his hand over his own mouth to stop the rambling. This had gone badly! It had all come out as a garbled mess. He wondered if they would notice if he just bolted for the door and fled the house.

"Are you finished?" Mr Jones' voice was grave.

He nodded. "Yes sir!"

He seemed to be searching for the right words to say while his wife rubbed his arm gently. "So basically you're asking for permission to date my daughter."

Sam started to shrug but rapidly changed it to a nod.

"Even though you're already dating her behind our backs?"

Oh no! This was not going well! But he knew he had to be entirely truthful... "Actually we've only technically been on one date. And it was outdoors in the daytime so it technically didn't even meet most people's definition of a date."

"How long has all this been going on?" It was the first time that his wife had spoken.

He looked directly at her. "I honestly didn't have the confidence to say anything to her until halfway through our trip to New York."

She nodded, unbeknown to him tallying it with her daughter's unexpected abundance of smiles when she'd got back.

"I'll be honest with you. Alicia and I met in high school, so I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I was to try and prevent you from seeing my daughter just for that reason." The man sighed as he continued, "We watched you both carefully on Sunday and didn't miss the looks that you gave each other when you thought nobody was looking. We used to look at each other like that didn't we honey?"

His wife smiled up at him and whispered, "We still do."

"It actually confused me that other than a few looks you had no other interaction with each other. At first we wondered if it was because you hadn't realized that you had chemistry yet, but I now see that it was because you were trying to be discreet. I'm glad that you know there's a time and a place for everything."

Sam was struggling to breathe as the older man continued his words. "Your little speech, although not particularly articulate did strike me as honest and genuine and I do appreciate that you wanted to come and speak to us on your own first. I also appreciate that your family's situation is due to the economy and I'm confident that it will right itself soon. Mercy won't be happy that you took it upon yourself to come and talk to us if you'd made other plans but we'll leave you to deal with the fallout from that all by yourself. After all, it looks as if you're going to have to get used to it!"

Sam felt a surge of happiness run through his veins. It was all going to be ok!

"Thank you sir! Mercedes is an amazing beautiful girl and she makes me want to be a better person. I promise to treat her well and I won't let you down."

"That's good news son. Look, I have to make a phone call before lunch so this conversation is over for now. But it will be revisited. If you're going to be dating my daughter there are more conversations to be had and not all of them will be as easy as this one. But for now, your foot is in the door and you're welcome in my home."

Mrs Jones smiled fondly at her husband and gave him a peck on the cheek before rising and leading Sam up by the shoulder out of the office.

"One thing I will say is this." Sam was already half way through the door and he rapidly turned at the sound of the man's voice, his feeling of elation suddenly vanishing. Mr Jones stared at him long and hard. "You really _do_ need to get your hair cut!"

"Yes sir!" He grinned and ducked out of the door.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Mrs Jones smiled up at him as they made their way back to the kitchen. "My father made him sweat far more than that for me!"

"I can't begin to imagine! I felt like I was going to die in there! And my mouth has this tendency to run away with itself and start rambling." He grabbed his unfinished glass of root beer and polished it off in a couple of gulps.

She smiled. "Yes. I did notice." She opened the oven door to check on the cornbread. "But I'm glad you did what you did. It says a lot about your character. And Michael has a lot of respect for that kind of thing. But don't think it's all over just yet. I noticed a shadow lurking outside the door for a moment while we were in there and it didn't belong to Mercedes if you know what I mean!"

It took a couple of seconds for the penny to drop with Sam and his nervousness returned.

"Look. The meal won't be ready for another half an hour. Why don't you go over and play computer games with him. I promise he doesn't bite but I have to warn you, he does think the world of Mercy."

And so do I...

Sam felt nervous as he quietly made his way into the living room. Jamal was sitting furiously playing the game. Without a word the older boy picked up the second controller that was next to him and held it out to him. Sam took it and sat down on the sofa beside him.

Still without a word, Jamal saved his game and went back to the main menu to pick a two player game. They started playing together in silence for a few moments.

"So… You and my sister then!" Sam couldn't read the tone in his voice, but he blushed nonetheless. "She's never mentioned you before."

"This is all very new for both of us."

"Do you play sports?"

"Yes. Mainly football."

"Position?"

"Quarterback"

"Hmmm. And you sing too?"

"Yes. But my voice is nowhere near as awesome as Cedes."

"Obviously. She's something special."

"I also play the guitar."

"That's cool. I always wanted to learn."

Both boys had their eyes firmly fixed on the game action on TV screen as they spoke.

"So Cedes says you love sci-fi!"

Jamal nodded. "Mostly the classic stuff but I love the new Star Trek movie. The writers actually paid attention. But my favorite is Avatar."

"I noticed that you had the special edition triple box set."

"I have one in my college dorm too! On blu-ray!"

"Tsatseng kawkrr nìtam uniltìrantokx!"

"Oe mllte!"

Jamal looked over at him with slightly more respect in his eyes. They continued playing together in silence. A slightly more relaxed silence than before.

Mrs Jones popped her head around the door. "Can you guys come and help set the table?"

Jamal paused the game and turned to Sam. "Look, I'm going to be honest. You seem like a nice guy but the jury's still out on you. If you hurt my baby sis, I _will_ hunt you down. Worse still, I'll bring some of my college buddies with me. We're all studying forensic science so we know how to leave no trace!"

He held out his hand. Sam took it and he pulled him up from the sofa. "Thanks Jamal. I have a younger sister and I doubt I'd be so gracious the day she brings anyone back home."

That made Jamal break out into a smile. "My friends and family call me JJ. You're not quite there yet but for now you can just call me Jay."

Sam returned the smile and they headed over to the dining room to set the table.

Sam heard her voice as it came towards the room. "Mom! Do you want me to start setting the table? Sam will be here soon-" Mercedes stood, frozen to the spot, eyes wide as she took in the picture of Sam and her brother and the nearly set table.

"Wh-when did you get here?" Her expression was one of fear and confusion.

"A while ago."

"And you didn't tell me you were here?" The diva voice was creeping in.

"There was something I needed to do first."

Jamal grinned at his sister then leaned and whispered in Sam's ear "Blondie's gonna get it! Run and save yourself!" He shot his sister a stern look for not having told him anything herself then quickly left the room before the fireworks started.

Mercedes continued to stare at him, speechless.

Sam came towards her and tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him away, her eyes stinging. "Sam! I thought we were going to do this together!"

He didn't allow her to push him away but held on tighter. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I had to do this. Call it a pride thing if you must. I needed to show your family how serious I really am and I knew I would have to do it alone to truly convince them."

Mercedes didn't look happy but she didn't argue either. She knew her family enough to know it was just the kind of thing they _would _like. And she loved Sam all the more for figuring it out by himself.

"Babe," he stroked her cheek gently, "I initiated this whole thing with us, and being the old fashioned Southern gentleman that I am I realized that I needed to man up and let your family know that my intentions towards you are honorable."

She didn't have a reply to that and he kissed her gently on the forehead, knowing that she wasn't mad at him anymore. "Hey Cedes. I nearly forgot! I have something for you." He rushed into the kitchen and retrieved the flower from the place where he'd left it. She smiled when she saw it and reached up to give him a chaste little kiss on the lips.

"Ahem!"

They both turned to see her mother behind them, smiling. "Sam, is the table finished?"

"Yes ma'am."

"OK. In that case I need you both to help me bring the food through. Your father's finished on the phone now Mercy."

* * *

As they ate the meal, the atmosphere around the table was almost as relaxed as it had been the preceding Sunday. Even her brother appeared to be making an effort to try to get to know Sam and Mercedes was grateful.

After the meal the boys went to continue with their gaming. Mercedes tried to join them but before they could get started, she was called aside by her father for 'a quick chat'. She shot Sam a fearful look as she headed out of the room. Luckily she returned smiling and joined the boys on the sofa, giving them a good run for their money with the game.

When Jamal left to get them some drinks Sam leaned over and kissed her, a big smile on his face. "How did it go?"

"It was fine. He just asked me how I felt about you, then established a few 'house rules'."

"House rules?"

"Yeah. Just stuff like not being alone in a room together without the door being wide open. That kind of embarrassing crap."

Sam grinned. "Why, what does he think I might do to you?"

She grinned back. "Don't forget we had a pregnant Quinn living in this house last year..."

He groaned. "Your dad said to me that there are more conversations to come with him and they won't all be so easy. Now _I'm _starting to feel a little scared!"

"There's nothing to be scared of."

"I'm just glad that nobody else knows so that I won't have to have a hard time from anyone else."

Mercedes shifted in her seat. "Well actually..."

Sam started to panic.

She smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry. I wanted to tell you as soon as I saw you but you sort of distracted me by already being here with my brother! Anyway, Kurt knows!"

"Kurt! How come?"

"Apparently we weren't as convincing about our meet in the parking lot of the Lima Bean as we thought we were!"

Sam laughed. "I blame you miss 'I can't lie to save my life!' I knew if anyone would figure it out Kurt would!"

"Too true. Anyway, I'm kinda glad he does know. He's someone we both know that we can confide in."

Sam nodded, remembering how he had confided about living in the motel and how Kurt had kept his secret.

"And I'm sure he won't drag you into any difficult conversations. He's done that to me already!"

He now chuckled. "I'll let you fill me in on that juicy detail later. Right now, all I can do is sit and stress about the further interrogations your father has lined up for me!"

Mercedes slapped his arm playfully as her brother returned to the room.

d never get the chance to happen anyway...

* * *

Rutxe tìng oe tìtxur! = Please give me strength!

Tsatseng kawkrr nìtam uniltìrantokx! = There is never enough Avatar!

Oe mllte! = I agree!


	6. Day 20: Momma Knows Best

Day 20: Tuesday

Sam didn't expect to find his mom alone in the hotel room. She hadn't been able to get as many hours work today as she'd hoped. The kids were out playing with friends. A group of the local moms had got together to share care. Each would have all of the children together in one of their homes each day. Whenever it was his mom's turn she would just care for all the kids in one of the other homes. At least it meant Stevie and Stacy had daily company and got them out of the motel room.

Sam had spent time just walking and thinking in the park. He'd wanted to spend a couple of hours with Mercedes, but she was out 'buying hair' with her mom. Whatever that meant!

"Hey Sammy!"

His mom was sat, looking even smaller than usual, on her bed. Sam went and sat beside her, his back against the headboard and stretching his legs out in front of him. He nestled his head in her neck and snuggled closer. He hated to admit it but he sometimes got jealous that Stacy and Stevie still got cuddles while he was now 'too old'. She turned to smile up at him and she lovingly ran her fingers through his hair.

They sat in a contented silence for a short while, but he knew he had to break it. Opportunities to speak to his mom alone were rare. And he could have sworn that recently she was avoiding being alone with him. But he needed some answers and today was the day that it was going to happen.

He pulled back slightly and turned slightly more to face her. "Mom... What's going on with dad?"

Mary Evans seemed to shrink slightly onto the bed and her shoulders sagged slightly. The harsh reality of their life had taken its toll on her. Her usual luxurious blonde hair was limp and lifeless, her skin no longer had its healthy glow, and although she was already a slim woman, Sam was sure that she'd lost some weight.

"He's just finding things are getting to him at the moment. He'd hoped that things would be a bit better by now and because it hasn't it's hitting him hard."

"It's hit us _all_ hard!" Sam used to go to an exclusive boarding school and was now having to walk every day to the High School with a small packed lunch with Stacy sized juice boxes. "But none of us have turned to drink!" Sam was shocked by the bitter way the words had come out.

His mother looked at him with a shocked expression but he was on a roll. "Mom, we never see him anymore. He's stopped coming to church with the family. When he comes in its always late and he always smells of alcohol. And don't think I didn't smell it on him when you came to pick me up from the New York trip in the middle of the afternoon!"

She avoided his eyes. "Sam please…"

"And just because you argue in the bathroom after the kids are asleep doesn't mean that I can't hear you and don't know what's happening!"

Sam hadn't expected all the words to come pouring out like that. He didn't expect the pain to be conveyed so transparently with them. He didn't want to seem like he was accusing his mom of anything, but as usual with his mouth, once it started he just couldn't stop. Even though he could see how much the words were hurting her.

She sighed and stroked his cheek gently. "Sam, nobody could have foreseen the way that things have turned out." Now there were tears in her eyes, "But we just have to make best of a situation and stay strong."

Hurt turned to anger. Sam was furious. Furious with the situation and furious to see his mom start to well up. Nobody had the right to make his mom cry. Nobody had the right to hurt his family. Nobody had the right to hurt _any_ of those who he loved!

She could see the change in his mood and caressed his arm soothingly. "Sammy, this whole situation... people deal with things differently. Some people bottle things up and others get angry and let everything out. Some take it out on others and some take it out on themselves. We all have what we think is a coping mechanism, but sometimes that mechanism..." she seemed to lose her thought mid-sentence.

"I just hate seeing you so sad when you look at him."

"Sam, my problems with your dad are not your burden!"

"But drinking never solves anything!"

"I know that, but your father isn't thinking rationally at the moment."

"And where does he even get the money to drink?"

He saw her shoulders stiffen. He'd touched another nerve. Probably the cause of the bathroom arguments. He sincerely hoped that the man was not using any of the money that he'd been bringing in from his pizza shifts...

She simply shrugged. "He has a new set of friends. They go wherever they go and he gets back only when he absolutely has to. I don't like them. I don't like the way that they speak, and I hate the ignorant way that they think. Their influence on him isn't a good one. But he won't listen to me."

"But why do you keep defending him and looking after him?"

"Because I made a vow Sam. A solemn vow before God that I would love him and stick by him, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. Just because things have taken a turn for the worse it doesn't mean I should abandon him. All I can do is hope that it's simply the situation that's brought out the worst side of him, and as things get better, he'll improve too."

Sam didn't look convinced as she continued, "I have to remind myself every day that if I didn't have him, I would never have had you or Stevie or Stacy. We have had happy times, and he's given me the three greatest children I could ever wish for. Sometimes things aren't easy, sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth. Sometimes the right decision is not the easiest. You're old enough to understand that. But ultimately things will and do work out in the end."

Sam stared at his hands. He was scared that if he moved he may start crying. He was filled with such an overwhelming explosion of conflicting emotions. "I hate all of this. I hate it all! I wish we could have our old life back!"

His mother took his hands in her own and continued talking. "I never get to say this but I'm so proud of you kids. I'm proud of Stacy and Stevie for getting on with things and not complaining. They've given up so many things that kids take for granted having these days. And you Sammy..." her voice broke a little as she smiled up at him with so much love in her eyes, "You work so hard. You're still a teenager. You should be out having fun not working to support us. You're old enough to remember how out life used to be. You remember the things that we had and the vacations that we used to take. We never wanted to pull you out of your school. Moving here wasn't because of dad's job transfer. When he lost the job that he had back in Nashville, we lost everything. We'd already been living beyond our means. We _had_ to pull you out of school and downsize to a cheaper area. And it had to be far away enough for our old friends to have no interest in following. When this job fell through we were stuck. It was all a lie and we couldn't longer afford to keep living it. But despite everything we went through, we've stayed strong and we've stayed together. This is the first time the strain has started to show on your father. Please _please_ give him the time and space to right himself."

As she looked into his eyes, pleading, Sam lost all control and dissolved into tears. This was only the third time he'd cried since the whole sorry situation had begun. The first was when he had had to sell his guitar, the thing that he had owned which had had the most value. Not just financially but emotionally. His one port of calm in the storm of life. His friend. His muse. The second was when the Glee club had bought the guitar back for him. They would never begin to know how much that had meant to him. And now. This being the first time that he was ever actually having a conversation with one of his parents about what had happened. They had mentioned it, but never really truly spoken about _how_ it had happened and what it meant for them all.

His mom had pulled him into her arms and he was sobbing onto her shoulder. "I just wish I could do more. I wish I could fix things!"

"Sam, this isn't for you to fix! You can't possibly be doing any more. You're doing too much already as it isI You should be being a normal teenager right now, enjoying your summer, hanging out with the boys. The biggest things in your life right now should be football, and proms, the latest phones and computer games and girls. Instead you're working every available hour for minimum wage and tips, just to help put food on the table. It's not right and I hate that we're doing this to you."

She was crying too even though she was trying hard for him not to see it.

Sam felt sad, but also relieved to be letting it all out. He'd been bottling a lot up. Probably far more than he had actually realized until this point. And there were now only two places in his life where he found comfort and calm. In the arms of his mom and with Mercedes.

They stayed quiet for a moment and Sam enjoying being comforted by his mom. Taking on, for a brief spell, the role of child which had been cruelly taken away from him in recent months.

She finally broke it with a kiss to the top of his head.

"So Sammy, as we're having this little heart to heart, why don't you tell me something about your life. I feel like I never see you properly anymore or have the chance to catch up!"

Sam knew that it was time to change the subject and talk about lighter things. He wiped his eyes and smiled at her.

"I've got a girlfriend mom!"

She smiled. One of those big happy smiles that actually reached her eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her do one of those.

"Clearly you _do_ have a little bit of free time left after all! Now hurry up and tell me it's Mercedes. Otherwise you're still not too old for me to put you over my knee and beat the foolishness out of you!"

This time it was Sam's turn to be stunned. "How did you know?"

She grinned a grin that instantly made her look ten years younger and shoved him with her shoulder. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm your mom! I know you better than you know yourself! Besides, I knew before even you did!"

Sam blushed, but couldn't help but get the feeling that she probably did.

"So tell me," she shifted her position and rubbed her hands together excitedly, tears forgotten, "How did you guys eventually end up getting together..."

Sam groaned. Mortified. "Mom..."

"Sammy!" She grinned, "I need something to be able to share with the grandchildren. Now spill..."

Samuel Evans loved his mom. But sometimes, just sometimes, he suspected that maybe she came from another planet...


	7. Day 21: Double Date

Day 21: Wednesday

Mercedes felt like she'd spent hours deciding what to wear. Tonight she was going on her first double-date with Kurt and Blaine and she was determined she was going to look fierce! Clearly something which was easier said than done today. But her makeup was on, her music was loud and she was feeling excited.

She saw rather than heard her phone buzz on her dresser and she grabbed it. It was a text.

'Quit dancing around your room in your underwear to Rhianna and get ready!'

She almost ran to the window to check that Kurt wasn't outside peeking in. Of course he wasn't. He just knew her. Scarily well. Despite his distraction with Blaine, he still managed to show random flashes of scary insight. But this one was pretty damn freaky!

'It's Beyonce actually!' she texted back.

'Doesn't matter. Sam's already here and Blaine's hungry.'

Sam was already there? They weren't supposed to meet for another hour! And she was supposed to be picking him up from the motel. Damn that boy was eager! And as always, frustratingly punctual!

'Will do my best!'

'Sam says just come in your underwear!'

Mercedes screamed when she read it, glad that nobody was around to see her violent flush. _Yeah sure he'd like that!_

'Tell him I'll slap him for that!'

'He says he's looking forward to it!'

_Aaaargh!_ It felt so weird flirting through a third party, even though that third party was Kurt.

'Not as much as I am!'

'LOL!'

'Gotta go if I'm coming early!'

She looked back into her closet and fished out a red summer dress with off the shoulder straps. It had a panel of black at the waist and another panel of black on the hem. It used to be a favorite of hers and she couldn't work out why she hadn't worn it for so long. It meant a change of bra but the dress definitely matched the criteria of fierce!

'Eat your heart out Samuel Evans' she thought to herself as let her freshly tonged hair drape on to her shoulders and touched up her lip gloss.

* * *

The door to the Hudson-Hummel home was opened by a very excited Sam. He immediately pulled her close and bent in to kiss her. Kurt whooped, Blaine grinned and Mercedes had her breath taken away. Something that never failed to happen with the first kiss of the day.

"Are you ever actually going to let her come in?" Kurt smiled at them from the hallway as he asked the question.

"I think I'm fine exactly where I am thanks!" Mercedes eyes didn't leave her boyfriend's and his arms stayed firmly put around her.

Sam was licking his lips and murmuring about strawberries.

"Look this is lovely and stuff but some people need to eat!" Blaine smirked as he tried to push past them out of the front door and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Are we taking one car or-" Sam and Mercedes were so busy kissing they didn't even hear him, leaving him to mutter to himself, "I guess we'll take two..."

* * *

Luckily Delmonico's was only a short drive away. The risk of running into people they knew at Breadstix was too high so they had come to this Italian restaurant on Blaine's recommendation.

It certainly looked lovely, although Kurt was less than keen on the red white and green decor. "Italians are hampered by the poor choice of color on their flag!" he mused.

They'd been quickly shown to a small round table. Being a Wednesday night (the only night Sam had off that week) the restaurant was quiet. There were only two other tables taken, each with older couples sitting at them. Italian music played softly in the background.

After ordering their drinks they settled into easy conversation. Mercedes watched as Sam rapidly skipped past the pizza and pasta pages of the menu before scrutinizing the meat section. The poor guy must dream of pizza she thought to herself sadly and wished that she had thought to suggest somewhere else. She reached and touched his leg under the table and he smiled at her.

"So how's the show going at Six Flags?" Mercedes was making a real effort to include Blaine in conversation. She knew she had a tendency to go off on a tangent with Kurt and sometimes Sam, and she was determined not to become that person who ignored people right in front of her.

"It's going really well. Thanks for asking. There's some great guys - and girls - on the team." He caught the look that Kurt had shot him and responded by taking the boy's hand and smiling into his eyes. "But none come close to the one sitting right here."

"Amen brother!" Mercedes raised her hand and they high-fived.

* * *

Sam was looking suspiciously at his panna cotta which he'd ordered for dessert on a whim without actually knowing what it was. He shook the plate to make it wobble clearly unsure if he had made the right decision before tasting a mouthful and breaking into a huge smile as the creamy vanilla taste melted onto his tongue.

"So what are you guys going to do when school starts after the summer?" Kurt had that look again. The one where he rests his chin in his hands and makes you squirm. For someone who was usually so dainty with food, he'd inhaled his tiramisu in about thirty seconds. It was there when the plate arrived but suddenly the plate was pushed to the side and there was nothing left on it but a few scapings of cream and dusted cocoa.

Mercedes looked at Sam. They hadn't actually discussed this yet. They hadn't discussed anything beyond enjoying the summer. Sam was working so much they barely had time to see each other. He rested his spoon back on his plate and looked at her thoughtfully.

"Dude, we haven't really thought that far ahead yet. We just want to enjoy this summer all to ourselves and deal with reality when we get there." His eyes never left Mercedes' as he spoke, his expression clearly conveying that he was hoping he'd just said the right thing.

She smiled and squeezed his arm. "Sam's right. He's had two disastrous relationships within Glee club and this is my first real relationship. We're just taking it slow, especially as we don't get much time together. By the time we do start telling people they'll clearly see how serious we are about each other, and that we're a force to be reckoned with!"

Sam grinned at her with those green eyes that always made her melt. He gave her a brief peck of a kiss on the cheek before turning to Kurt and saying "Yeah! What she just said!"

They linked hands under the table and finished their desserts with smiles.

…

It was getting harder and harder for him to say goodnight. They'd been parked up for nearly ten minutes but all that had happened was their seatbelts had come off. If this had been Quinn he would have suggested maybe moving things to the back seat, but with Mercedes he felt he had to take things slower. But it was so hard. Her kisses were addictive and letting her go was the hardest thing in the world.

There was no pretending with Mercedes. She was shy, it was her nature, but if he distracted her enough she would forget her shyness. This was one of those moments. She was kissing the life out of him and he had not one single complaint about it. The combination of the warm evening and the off the shoulder dress was giving him so much more skin access and he loved the way that she was sensitive to his touch. Making out was always fun, but with her there was an extra level of tenderness.

Finally she pulled away from him with as much reluctance as he felt. He loved having his arms around her and was sure that he'd felt her nipples hardening through the fabric of her dress and his shirt as her breasts were pressed up against his chest. More than that, the idea of leaving her warmth and entering that cold stark motel room was heartbreaking.

"You'd better go in Sam, I need to get back."

He nodded. He knew, but he didn't want to go. He watched as she sighed and straightened herself out a little. But no about on straightening out would be able to remove that 'just kissed' expression from her face. And he was more than proud to have been the one to put it there.

"Okay." He leaned forward, placing one final chaste kiss on her lips before staring deeply into her eyes. They'd spoken about how serious they were about each other and these were the moments he really felt it. Her eyes were so expressive and they seemed to be telling him something that she was struggling to put into words. He felt the same. But he knew exactly what the words were. He'd used them before and only now with the benefit of hindsight did he realize he'd wasted them. It was about more than just the physical and the heat of the moment. It was about being at one with a person in every sense of the word, emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. The connection he felt with Mercedes was overwhelming. He basked in the glory of just being with her. And for all of his having to be strong for his family, she was the one who was able to give him the energy to deal with all the other shit in his life.

Mercedes was his everything.

He wasn't just falling, he _had_ fallen.


	8. Day 22: Trouble

**_Please forgive me for some of the words written in this chapter! :(_**

* * *

Day 22: Thursday

Sam rushed back from work. His manager had let him out early in return for a double shift the next day and he was desperate to get back to the motel before his mom so that he could spend a few stolen moments with Mercedes who was babysitting that night.

But as he walked through the parking lot to the front door he noticed his dad's car parked outside the motel room. Sam checked his watch. His dad was never normally back this early. Despite himself he started to feel a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had been weeks since he had had a proper conversation with his dad, and since his chat with his mom a couple of days before, he still had pent up anger and frustration towards him which he hadn't yet had time to channel with his guitar into some songwriting.

With a sigh he let himself in through the door.

The kids were asleep and his dad was sat on the floor at the foot at the foot of his bed, watching some sitcom on the TV with the sound down low. Dwight Evans was a tall man. Not quite as tall as Mr Jones, but still imposing and well built. His hair was brown and he had hazel eyes which remained fixed on the screen as he heard his son enter the room.

"Hey son!" he finally turned to smile at Sam.

"Hey dad!" It was the first time they'd actually seen each other in a while, but Sam really didn't feel like speaking with him. However, he knew that it was unavoidable. It could be postponed but not completely avoided.

"So how was your day?"

Sam shrugged. "Ok I suppose. Look dad- I really need to shower. I stink of pizza and burned cheese!"

His father nodded while Sam grabbed his pajamas and disappeared into the bathroom to take refuge under the stream of hot water.

The refuge, like the hot water, didn't last long and he knew that he couldn't stay in the bathroom forever.

* * *

As he pulled out his camp bed and unfolded it out on the floor so that he could climb into it, he heard his dad calling to him in a loud whisper. He looked over and saw him patting the place on the floor next to him. He sighed again and slid down next to his dad, determined not to be the first to speak.

"Sammy son! I never see you except when you're asleep!"

"That's because you never come to church with us anymore," was Sam's cold response. "It's the only time that we're ever together as a family."

Tony Evans looked as if he had been slapped but he refused to take the bait. "I've been busy on Sundays," was all the reply he was prepared to give.

Sam looked at him disbelievingly before returning his eyes to the screen also. The sitcom had been replaced by an episode of Friends but Sam couldn't concentrate on what Chandler was saying. He was too busy trying to work out if his dad had been drinking again. His breath simply smelled of gum but his eyes were suspiciously. Was it simply due to the reflection from the TV screen in the darkened room or was it something more sinister?

Dwight decided to open a conversation. "So I finally met that girl who helps with the kids tonight. Mercedes I think it is? She seems like a lovely girl. Needs to lay off the fried chicken a little bit though if you know what I mean!" He winked and nudged Sam playfully.

Sam's anger flashed up like a bright white light and he physically had to grip his hands on his knees until the knuckles were white to keep from responding by hitting his dad. _How DARE he say that!_ He needed to reply but he had to take a moment first. "She's beautiful and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her!" he hissed, his voice barely above the minimum whisper. His dad looked at him and he refused to meet his eyes.

"Well the kids seem to love her and that's the most importantly thing," Dwight said simply.

_I love her too _thought Sam but he didn't say it. It was a truth that he had come to accept and embrace. But the most important thing right now was that he needed to get away from this man and this conversation. The motel room while the kids slept was not the time or the place for this to happen. He started to get up but his father pulled him back down with a grin.

"Look, I'm sorry okay! I didn't mean to be rude about your friend. I was just having a laugh! I miss our chats. Stay and watch TV with me for a while. It's too early for bedtime."

Sam sat back down, frustrated. It was no laughing matter but the man was his dad and he had to respect him, even if it was only for his age. If it had been anyone else who'd said those words he would have punched their lights out in a heartbeat for insulting Mercedes. But this was his dad. He couldn't hit his dad whatever the temptation!

They continued to watch in silence until the final credits.

Dwight decided to try again. It never used to be this hard to talk to his son who seemed to be so tired that he was having a sense of humor bypass. "I'm glad that you had a good time in New York!"

New York felt like a lifetime ago. Was it really that long since they'd truly spoken? His dad was still talking, "I had such a good time with my friends out there when I was still single. There were some great clubs in Manhattan."

"We couldn't go clubbing dad."

"Oh. Of course not. You're too young." It was his turn to sigh. Mary said he should make more of an effort but it wasn't coming easy. He tried one more time. "So your mom let slip that you went out on a date last night!"

It was Sam's immediately stiffened but the response went unnoticed in the darkness.

"Well I'm just glad you're finally back with Quinn."

"I'm not back with Quinn!" This time Sam didn't even bother to mask the annoyance in his voice.

"Oh that's a shame. She's gorgeous. You looked so perfect together. I can just imagine your little blond kiddies just like Stevie and Stacey."

Sam _really _didn't want to talk about her. "If you must know, it was a double date with _new _people."

"Anyone I've met?"

Sam took a deep breath. He suspected he was going to regret this but he was going to say it anyway. "Yeah. You remember Kurt? He brought this guy Blaine and I took Mercedes!"

Sam felt like he was going to explode. He clearly saw the expression the fleetingly that passed through his father's eyes before he started laughing, oblivious to the fact that Sam had noticed his initial reaction. "Ha! My son the high school quarterback, on a pity double date with a homo and a black heifer! That ticks all the politically correct boxes all at once! Was this Blaine kid a cripple or something! At least tell me you got paid for that little charade. We could really do with the-"

Suddenly Sam's hands were clasping the collar of his dad's shirt, his fists clenched and the fabric squashed tightly inside them. The man had stopped laughing and his eyes were wide with shock and fear.

_Leave the room right now Sam!_ Step away before you hurt him! Before the kids wake up and witness something that will scar them forever!

His head screamed at him to do the right thing and it only took a split second before he released his dad, shoving him back against the floor as he turned and fled out the front door, barely getting it open in his frustration.

He came to a stop a few paces outside, unsure of where it go. After all, he was still in his pajamas and his feet were bare, the ground a sudden cold shock to them.

He heard his dad follow him out through the door but he didn't turn his head as he heard him approach. After the man had stopped at a safe distance he heard his voice. It sounded shaky and hesitant.

"Look. I shouldn't have said it like that. They're your friends and I- I've had a bit to drink today..."

Not actually a proper apology…

Sam stayed standing totally still, head bent forward, fists still clenched, afraid of the angry person that he had become. _Rutxe srung oe 'ì'awn mawey! _He hoped the prayer he uttered under his breath would receive a speedy response. He didn't know who he hated more. His dad, for the hurtful ignorant things that had just poured out of his mouth, or himself for becoming this angry stranger standing in his pajamas, losing the inner battle to try and calm down. If he was Bruce Banner, the Hulk would definitely be on the loose by now!

He thought of Mercedes' soft shy smile and it made him feel a little better. But then he remembered his father's words about her and the calmness was immediately undone. He'd forgotten that being a teenager made it especially hard for him to keep a control of his emotions and right now he didn't particularly have much of a desire to stay in control.

His dad took a step forward and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. It took Sam every ounce of strength he had not to immediately shake it off.

"Look son. Things were said and done just now in there that we both regret. Let's just draw a line under it and forget it happened. The kids'll wake up if the door stays open much longer."

Sam sighed, frustrated, but allowed himself to be slowly led back towards the motel room.

"You know I didn't mean anything by what I said don't you? It was just the alcohol."

Sam froze again. He had seen his father's eyes as he had said the words. He knew his father _had_ meant them. He was angry and ashamed to be related to anyone who had such ignorant ideas. Somebody who's eyes had shown deep feelings that he didn't bear to think about. His eyes had spoken far more than his words had. "Alcohol doesn't make you say things," he hissed slowly, "It just lowers your inhibitions so that you give a voice to things or act out in a way that you'd only do in your head if you were sober! And I really don't like what's going on in your head right now. You never used to be like this did you?"

For the second time that night, Dwight Evans looked as if he'd been slapped.

"Look, words just came out wrong. All I was trying to say is that you had a beautiful girl. Why did you let it slip away?"

"It slipped away because she was a cheat dad! A lying cheat! I bet you never saw that one coming from your precious All American Miss Perfect Girl-Next-Door Quinn! Not only did she cheat on me, she got pregnant cheating on her last boyfriend last year and had to give up the baby! Is_ that_ the beautiful girl you want me to be with? Just because she has blonde hair and green eyes and we can look like Barbie and Ken? Is that the only thing that you think is important?"

"Wait- Quinn has a baby?"

His dad's brain was slow on the uptake. Probably due to the alcohol!

"She gave it away last year." He could see the shock registering on his dad's face, but he had to learn that appearances weren't everything. The fact that he and Quinn had resolved their differences and were now friends again was beside the point. His dad saw Quinn at face value. Sam saw the whole story including the damage and knew that despite everything, hers was a friendship that he would never want to lose even though there would never be any hope of rekindling a romance.

Dwight rubbed his temples, frowning, struggling to process all the new information that had just been thrown at him. He sighed. "Look, I'm only looking out for you Sam. I guess what I'm trying to say, very badly, is that you had your heart broken not too long ago. Don't lower your standards just because you're on the rebound. I'm not being racist but - well, we both know it's not as if this little divergence is endgame is it? Right now you're going 'ghetto' with that girl and I'm cool with it because I know it's only a phase..."

Sam felt himself losing it again. So many things wrong with that pathetic attempt at a speech! He kept his words slow and calm like he was speaking to a small child. "That _girl_ has a name. Her name is Mercedes. Mercedes Jones. She is American - not that I actually care - and there's nothing ghetto in the way that you're using the word, about her." He took a deep breath and straightened his spine before adding, "And news just in - I _love _her!"

Tony Evans took a step back, as though his son had literally just hit him. He didn't know what to say. "What do you know about love? You said you loved Quinn!"

"And I honestly thought I did! And now I'm man enough to admit I was wrong about that!"

At that moment a car pulled into the parking lot. It was his mom being dropped off by her manager after her late shift. As she stepped out of the car she took in the sight of the room door ajar, her husband backing towards the door and her son standing barefoot in his pajamas. As she walked towards them, the Evans males knew things had to end there, shooting each other dark looks and stepping back inside.

She followed them back into the motel room.

Sam headed straight to his corner where he pulled his jeans over his pajama bottoms, slipped his feet into sneakers and shrugged into his letterman jacket.

"Where are you going? Sam? What's going on?" She turned to her husband, "Dwight, what's happened?" His mom looked almost scared, her voice a hushed whisper to avoid waking the children who miraculously had managed to sleep through it all.

Sam had already flung his guitar over his shoulder and was half way out the door. "Ask _him_!" he spat, indicating with his head towards his dad who had settled back onto the floor in front of the TV. He was totally ashamed that the man had insulted his girl in the worst possible way. Ignorance didn't even begin to cover it and he needed to put some space between them.

Plus he hated being so snappy to his mom. He knew none of this was her fault but he knew he wasn't ready or prepared to repeat any of the words which had been said. But he did, however, lean forward and kiss her gently on the head, telling her that he loved her without words before leaving the room that was threatening to suffocate him.

She looked at his eyes and then at the guitar before nodding in understanding and watching him leave.

He walked aimlessly for what felt like hours only to find himself back at the library.

The path to the garden was pitch black but he knew it well, and made his way through easily. Once in, he found that the partial moon cast beautiful shadows from the plants, bathing the garden with specked light.

He sat in his usual spot under the tree. His favorite oasis of calm, now with the added memory of time shared there with Mercedes.

He stroked the smooth wood of his guitar. Not yet playing a note, but reveling in the familiarity of the feel of it. Whenever he felt hurt he turned to his guitar. To be without it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. It helped him to channel his thoughts.

How could he be the child of somebody so awful? He'd expected the odd comments from ignorant people about being with Mercedes, but never in a million years would he have imagined that would come from so close to home. Sure there were some distant relatives back in the south that he didn't much care for but this was his own dad. The man who had brought him up not to be judgmental. This was the man who still had a heavy influence on the young moldable minds of his younger siblings.

He stayed very still, inhaling the faint smell of the wood, waiting for the inspiration to come.

For the comfort to come.

He thought about Mercedes. For the first time he had actually put words to his feelings and admitted aloud that he loved her. Shame that the words were wasted on someone that didn't deserve it. But he did love her. She was his anchor, his calm port in the crazy storm that he called his life right now. It seemed weird that he'd fallen for someone so quickly and yet it seemed so perfectly right. Like this secret garden, the best things are always found where they're least expected. And Mercedes was definitely his 'best thing', hidden right in plain sight all this time.

It was too soon to tell her how he felt, but just the knowledge of it made him feel better. With Mercedes by his side anything would feel better. She could calm him down from any crazy mood.

Finally he felt inspired to sing.

But then his fingers began to move.

And to his utter surprise, comfort came in the form of Bob Marley. He thought of Will Smith in I Am Legend. A man truly alone in the world, and he sang the song that he did:

_Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun  
Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep  
Singin' sweet songs Of melodies pure and true,  
Sayin': "This is my message to you-ou-ou_

_Singin': "Don't worry about a thing  
'Coz every little thing gonna be all right."  
Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) about a thing,  
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"_

He wanted to believe the words so badly, but for some reason he couldn't shift the heavy tightness on his chest…

* * *

Rutxe srung oe 'ì'awn mawey = Please help me stay calm

Song: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley


	9. Day 24: Return Of The Timelord

Day 24: Saturday

JJ had laughed at her when she said that from now on she was going to get up early on Saturday mornings. He knew what she was like and she knew how much she loved her Saturday morning lie-ins.

What he hadn't fully realised was that she liked Sam more!

And now they had a new Saturday morning routine starting today. He would come each week after breakfast and they would share the special gift that she had got him. Following their conversation in New York, she had bought several box sets of Dr Who, and as promised, Sam was going to introduce her to the wonderful world of the Dr and his Tardis. The clips she had seen online looked unusual and interesting and she didn't doubt that she would enjoy it.

She had eaten her breakfast quickly, anxiously waiting for Sam's knock on the door.

He looked tired but pleased to see her, pulling her into a massive hug and squeezing her until she had no breath left in her lungs.

"I'll meet you in the den." She shut the front door behind him and grinned. "I don't think my parents would feel it appropriate for me to stay in my pajamas with you all morning!"

He smiled as he watched her run up the stairs.

"Morning mrs Jones!"

"Morning Sam." He smiled as she pushed a plate of pancakes and two forks towards him. "You can take those through with you."

Mercedes changed in record time and was back in time to see Sam pulling the celophane off the first box set and started reading the back cover.

She was wrong. He didn't just look tired, he looked exhausted.

"What's wrong boo?" She pulled him down on to the sofa next to her. "You look shattered."

He smiled at her weakly. "I feel so much better for seeing you though."

"And I you. But something's up. Tell me what's going on."

For some reason he seemed reluctant. Mercedes didn't like the reluctance. She couldn't understand why Sam would feel that he couldn't share something with her. She did her usual trick of taking his hands and stroking them gently, waiting in silence until he spoke. The Jones women were strong. As much as they could speak, they could also stay silent for a very long time if they so wished. They used whichever tactic they deemed necessary to achieve their goal. She knew that Sam would give in eventually and he did.

"It's my dad. He's got a drink problem."

Mercedes was shocked. He had never spoken about his father like that before. She knew he hadn't been around much recently but she'd put it down to finding work and doing whatever odd shifts he could find.

"He seemed fine when I met him." she said.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"Not much. Just that he'd heard so much about me from the kids. He looked at me like I wasn't what he expected but I figured that was because he thought that I would be Quinn."

Sam chuckled ironically and she wondered why. "So what happened?"

Sam sighed. "We had words. It wasn't pretty."

Mercedes felt that there was more but Sam didn't look as it he was going to say more on the subject and Mercedes decided not to push it any further. It was hard to admit your family had problems. She wasn't about to give him the third degree on top of it! Not today anyway...

The weak smile was back. He leaned in for a kiss. She gave him a small peck "Don't forget the door is open! My mom could walk in at any time!"

The grin widened. "Let her!" he said, before giving her another kiss that took her breath away. It seemed to perk him up no end!

She grabbed the DVD case, embarassed, and finished removing the celophane. "So Sam, tell me what we're going to watch."

"Well Mercedes, today i'm going to introduce you to one of the many women in my life. Her name is Rose Tyler and as Puck would say, she's pretty badass!"

Mercedes grinned and took his hand. "Well i'm looking forward to meeting her, as long as she stays well and truly in the world of fiction!"

He slipped the first disk into the DVD player. "We're going to start with the ninth Doctor. It's as good a place to start as any. And it's where I started anyway!"

She snuggled closer to him and drifted into the realm of time travel...

* * *

"We have time for one more. Shall I put the next disk in?"

Mercedes shook her head. As she did there was a knock at the door. "And that's the reason!" she said as she leapt up from the seat. "I have another suprise for you!"

She grinned at his puzzled face.

"Don't worry, you'll like it. And so will my dad."

"Your dad?" Now Sam really did sound scared.

Mercedes opened the door to a light skinned black woman who seemed to be in her mid twenties. She had short straight hair in an asymetrical bob with red streaks. She was carrying a huge bag which seemed to be filled to capacity with assorted goodies of some description. She squealed at the sight of Mercedes and hugged her tight. Then she held out her hand. "You must be Sam."

"Yes. Hi there!"

Mercedes grinned. "Sam, this is Felicia. She does my hair."

Felicia shot him a smile that was like a ray of sunshine as Mercedes continued. "But before she starts on me she's going to cut your hair!"

Sam's face showed that he now finally understood what she had meant about her dad liking it. He had told her of his warning but she'd always insisted she liked brushing her fingers through his fringe. It had, however, been irritating the hell out of him for a while.

They walked through to the master bathroom. En route they passed mrs Jones.

"Hey Alicia"

"Hey love. I got the hair you mentioned. Eleven inches this time. Is that okay?"

Sam looked at Mercedes for a translation and she just smiled and shook her head. "Weave talk. I'll explain one day. Not today."

Today she would get to jealously sit and watch while another woman ran her fingers through her man's hair!


	10. Day 26: Hubba Bubba

**Rereading this chapter took me back to those days before Shane even had a name. First he was Bubba then he was Marcus then Shane came out of nowhere. I think I fixed this now because I seemed to have used both names in this chapter!**

* * *

Day 26: Monday

Mercedes returned from her lunch break with Sam with a smile on her face. Being with him always made her happy. And Monday lunches were one of the highlights of her week. She was still getting used to him with shorter hair. It was more like it was when he first joined McKinley, only less blond now that the ends had been cut off. If she was honest with herself she would admit that she actually preferred it this way. Especially as there was still more than enough for her to frequently run her fingers through.

As she came through the door, an extremely excited aunt Esther stepped forward.

"I can't believe you just missed him! But he's coming back. I just sent him out on an errand."

"Missed who?" Mercedes had no idea who it was that she'd just missed.

"My Bubba! That's who! You're finally going to meet my Bubba!"

Mercedes smiled at the elderly woman's excitement. She'd been hearing stories of 'her Bubba' since she was small. But she couldn't even remember his actual name. All she knew was that he was her great nephew who lived in Boston. Her niece's husband had died tragically while their son was small so her sister, niece and great nephew had all lived together in one home. Whenever aunt Esther had gone to visit her sister she would tell stories of life with her niece and her son. As they were the same age, Mercedes used to be fascinated with the things he had been doing with his life, living in the big city. The last she heard he was turning into a pretty amazing football player.

And today she was finally going to put a face to the name. Well, sort of name - she'd forgotten his actual name years ago but was well beyond the point of being able to ask what it was again.

She suddenly felt her arm being gripped. "Here he is!"

The door opened and a thick set young man walked in. He was taller than she expected and probably a little heavier too. A bit like Azimo but with a friendlier smile and a pencil moustache that she really wasn't entirely sure worked on him. But he definitley did look like a football player. He was dressed comfortably in jeans and a tan shirt.

"Hey nana! I bought a quart of milk. I hope that's ok?"

She smiled at him adoringly. "Of course it is Bubba. Now come here and meet Mercedes."

He shot the older woman a look that said 'please don't call me that in front of people - especially girls' before placing the carton on the side and offering Mercedes his hand.

"Hi! I'm Shane. Please - call me Shane and not Bubba!"

Mercedes was relieved that she wasn't going to have to face the humiliation of asking his name. She took the offered hand. "I'm Mercedes. It's a pleasure to finally put a face to the name i've been hearing all these years."

"The feeling's mutual." He brought the hand to his mouth and kissed it softly. "And nana Esther never told me how beautiful you are in real life!"

'Oh boy, we've got ourselves a charmer' thought Mercedes, secretly flattered to have been called beautiful on a first meeting and trying not to let the hand kiss remind her of Sam and prom night...

"Bubba's going to be moving to Lima!" Since her sister's death in the spring, aunt Esther had been trying to convince her niece and great nephew to move closer to her.

Mercedes looked at him again and he smiled shyly.

"Yeah. Well we came down yesterday because mom needed to complete the final paperwork on the house." He looked at his watch, "It should all be pretty much done by now. We're going back to Boston tonight to start packing and should be moving over in about 3 weeks!"

"So I guess I should say 'Welcome to Lima'!"

"Thanks. What's it like here?"

"It's pretty cool. A small town but the people are nice."

"Hey, do you go to McKinley High? I'm transferring there for senior year."

"Yes I do. So I guess I'll see you there."

He grinned. "Great! I'm glad I'll already know someone when I get there. It's hard starting out at a new school."

"I'm sure it is. But I've made some really good friends there and i'm sure you will too."

"What's the football team like?"

"They're really good. Their last season was the best ever! And my - uh - friend is on the team."

"Friend?" His eyebrow raised and she could feel the heat rushing to her face.

"I mean - I have a couple of friends on the team. I'm a member of the Glee club and all the boys are also on the football team." She hoped that she had covered her momentary slip well. That was too close for comfort!

"That's an odd combination. Football and Glee..." Shane looked as if he was mulling the idea over in his mind.

* * *

Mercedes was reaching up, stacking books onto a high shelf when she heard Shane's voice from the entrance behind the counter.

"Damn girl!"

She turned to look at him. "What?"

"Some white dude was just totally checking you out through the window!"

Mercedes rapidly turned to see Sam already heading away down the street clutching a couple of pizza boxes. She smiled at the thought of it, knowing how his face got when he looked at her sometimes and didn't doubt he was enjoying what he'd thought to be an unobserved eyeful.

"Not that I can blame him for looking." Shane seemed to realise that his words were aloud rather than in his head and hastily returned to finish moving heavy boxes in the back.

"Nana! Nana I have to go pick mom up now." Once the the last box had been moved he had grabbed the keys to the rental car from the counter then turned to the old lady and softly kissed her cheek. "We'll get home really late so i'll call you tomorrow to let you know we're back safe."

He turned and smiled at Mercedes. "It was great to meet you at long last. Maybe we can catch up more later in the summer?"

"Definitely. I'm here every Monday. And i'm sure we'll see each other at church too."

"That would be cool!"

He shot her a final smile and was gone.

Aunt Esther sighed. "He's grown up to be such a lovely young man. And he gets more and more handsome by the day!"

Mercedes smiled. Handsome wasn't a word she would have used. Cute maybe, although definitely not a patch on her wonderful Sam! Kurt was right to call him Adonis!

But it would definitely be nice to have a new friend. And any guy who called her beautiful is worth knowing in her books


	11. Day 31: Refletions

Day 31: Saturday

Sam was starting to get used to his new shorter hair. It was a little darker now that the blond ends had been cut off, and since being with Mercedes he hadn't felt the need to continue to lighten his hair. Besides, there was no money for lemons anyway. But a few highlights still remained and he liked it that way. He also still rubbed the back of his neck a lot. Not because the hair tickled him anymore, but because it had become a habit that was strangely comforting. Something to do with his hands when he was feeling stressed, confused or thinking.

The ladies in his life had universally approved of the cut, Stacey more than anyone, shrieking when she first saw him then leaping on his back and totally messing it up with her hands. "Sammy!" she'd cried, "You look like you again!" He'd simply laughed. Stacy was never one to mince her words and she was happy that she approved. Mercedes loved that there was still enough length left to run her fingers through it, and had spent most of their Monday lunch doing just that. His mom had loved it too, giving him an especially wide grin when he'd told her what had happened. She had offered to do it for him herselff but much as he loved her, he knew that she was no barber.

Even Quinn had commented on his hair after church the next day. She was taking the kids to see a movie with her young cousins who were visiting for the weekend. She'd said that the hair reminded her of when he'd first come to school, but how she'd never realised his hair was actually so much darker underneath. He felt bad for the things that he'd said to his father about her. He had played her down, even though he had already accepted and forgiven her circumstance. Even though what he had spoken that night was truth, none of it was his dad's business and he had no right to go shooting his mouth off like that. None of it was anybody's business. And since New York and her hair cut she'd been keeping a low profile. In all honesty, he guessed she had been keeping a low profile because he'd been so busy with work and everything else that he hadn't really noticed what she was doing with her life and he felt bad. He didn't hate her. That had passed a long time ago. Plus she had kept his family's secret and remained helpful with the kids. Maybe she was turning over a new leaf. Who knew? He'd dated her for a couple of months but still couldn't claim that he really knew her. Their new friendship was one based on truth and he genuinely appreciated it. In a way he knew her better now through her helping his family than he ever had through dating her.

As he made his way to Mercedes' house for the next session of their Dr Who marathon he couldn't help but feel a little resentful. He'd only been able to see her once this week, for their usual Monday lunch. He had been so busy at work and Mercedes had other commitments she needed to keep too. They were supposed to have had a date on Thursday night but Mercedes had had to cancel. They'd had a family from church visit unexpectedly and as her mom had been held up at work, Mercedes had needed to start the cooking. The problem with the Jones family having an open house was that people were constantly popping in and plans would often have to be changed at the very last moment. And his not having a phone meant that it was really hard for her to reach him if plans changed. Luckily that day she'd been able to reach him at work moments before he had left. Things were just stupid. Who doesn't have a cellphone in 2011?

He hated the fact that he had the most amazing girlfriend, but hardly got to spend any time with her. She was the one good thing in his totally crappy life and there was nothing he could do to show her the good time that she deserved. He'd done lots of dates and fun things when he was with Quinn, but he actually cared about Mercedes far more. Now that he had the girl that he always wanted other things had to go wrong in his life.

His mom had looked especially tired when he'd left the hotel room that morning. Even though more than a week had passed she had still not asked him anything about what had happened that night and he was still not ready to talk about it, upset with the the things that had been said and the things that he had nearly done. But thinking about certain things she'd said in the conversation the previous week he had a sneaking suspicion that she would have worked out most of it on her own. But just like Mercedes, he knew that she would wait until he was ready to talk about it and he didn't think he would be ready to anytime soon.

He hadn't seen his father at all since which wasn't unusual in the least. In fact it was actually quite fortunate given the way things had been left or rather he had left. Every time that man's words rang through his ears he would shudder and he knew that he would rather die than let Mercedes know what had been said.

After running off to the secret garden, Sam hadn't returned until dawn, his stomach urging him to go back more than anything else. As he'd left work early that day he hadn't been able to grab one of the expiring pasta dishes that he usually did at the end of the day and his stomach had thoroughly reminded him of it.

He had planned to just sit outside for a bit, but when he noticed that the car was already gone, he'd headed inside to make toast. The sound of his movement had woken his mom and they sat together in silence on her bed, muching toast, not wanting to wake the kids. She looked as if she'd been crying. He didn't want to think about the arguments which would have taken place after he had left. There were so many issues still not resolved.

After setting the alarm he'd eventually fallen asleep, the stress of what had happened finally taking it's toll, together with the knowedge he needed the rest before his next double shift.

Sam had been so lost in his thoughts that he nearly walked straight past Mercedes' house. Nearly, but not quite! Before he could raise his hand to knock the front door, it was flung open by the girl herself in skinny jeans and a sparkling purple top who immediately pulled him in for a quick kiss.

"Happy one month anniversary Sam!"

He grinned. Was it already one month? He could have sworn they'd only seen each other about ten times so far and only had two 'proper' dates. "Happy one month anniversary right back at you!" He returned the kiss, deeper than the first, but she pulled away, pulling him in through the front door at the same time. He looked at her quizically.

"My dad's home this morning so we need to be on our best behavior!"

Sam groaned. He'd spent all week patiently waiting to see Mercedes for some 'less than best' behaviour and now he was going to have to be the Southern gentleman. He shot her a steamy look that sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

She slapped him playfully on the arm. "Sam!" she exclaimed, "Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Life that! Seriously, if stares could get me pregnant i'd probably be carrying twins right now!"

Sam grinned "Oh yeah?"

"Hell to the yeah!"

As they walked together to the kitchen he wrapped his arm around her waist, lingering with his hand on her hip and the crest of her stomach, and whispered in her ear "One day soon i'm finally going to get you all alone so that i can make you feel as beautiful as you already look!"

He grinned as he watched the blush radiate from Mercedes while he let go and gave his most beaming smile. "Good morning Mrs Jones - I mean Alicia!" Nope, still couldn't just say her first name.

"Morning Sam. Hows the family?"

"They're good thanks. My mom says to say hi. She'll be popping down to the gym later."

"That's great. I might see here there. I've made some eggs and crispy bacon if you want to take those plates though with you."

"Sure ma'am. Thanks so much!" He took the plates with a smile while Mercedes glared at him, her flush finally fading.

She had already set up the DVD player in the den and the menu screen was up and running. Once she was seated he put the plates on the table and grabbed her again, wiping the glare off her face with a week's worth of missed kisses coming out all at once.

"Sam!"

"Mmmmhmmmm..." his face was now buried in her neck and his hands were wandering around dangerously.

"Sam - stop! My dad could walk in any second!"

He groaned, "I've missed you so much baby..." She didn't know the half of it. She had him totally twisted up!

"Sam! I'm serious!"

With one last lingering kiss he pulled away with a sigh handing her one plate while putting the other on his lap. He needed to regain he cool. Quickly. The girl really had no clue what she did to him and how quickly she was able to do it. Then he came up with the perfect solution. "Hey, shall i say Grace for breakfast?"

She smiled at him. "Sure, that would be cool. Plus it would banish any impure thoughts you might still be having!"

Oh you have no idea! He smiled, muted the tv, took her hand in his and said Grace.

"Amen."

"Amen."

"AMEN!"

Their heads jerked towards the open door where Mr Jones stood with an amused smile on his face. "Good morning Sam. I was just checking to see why it was so quiet in here."

Sam blushed furiously. "Good morning sir, we were just-"

"I know!" Mr Jones chuckled to himself and waved towards their plates. "It's good to know you take your faith seriously Sam. You kids carry on. Alicia won't like it if you let her food get cold before you eat it." The he turned and left the room.

Sam heaved a sigh of relief. One minute earlier and they would have been in big trouble...


	12. Day 33: The Mexican

Day 33: Monday

Mercedes was excited. She'd felt terrible for having to default on her date with Sam on Thursday. They had little enough time together as it was, and when he had told her at lunchtime that his shifts had been swapped and he now had the evening off she'd jumped at the opportunity to make things right. Her trip was rapidly approaching. There was only one more week before she had to head off to Florida for ten days with her family, including her cousins wedding and she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Sam before that happened. She knew there wouldn't be much time together because of his schedule but she needed to get enough to last her while she was gone.

The afternoon in the thrift store felt like it had dragged on forever. Aunt Esther had been talking incessantly about her Bubba and his imminent move to Lima while they worked. She'd smiled and nodded in all the right places but the conversation had held no interest for her. But the way the woman kept going on, was she trying to set them up or something? Too bad she was already taken. And in a few weeks the whole world would know it.

She was dressed simply, in jeans and a hooded top when she drove towards his motel. She didn't even need to turn into the parking lot. He was already waiting for her on the corner of the street.

As she kissed him when he climbed into the car, she inhaled his scent. Soap from the after work shower he'd just taken. She remembered the first time she had noticed that smell on him, the afternoon that they'd sat alone together in her home watching Avatar. Nothing was sexier than the smell of a clean man. She drank in his masculine aroma, and the taste of his mouth as he kissed her like he meant it. Their lips were a perfect fit and she craved those kisses something fierce.

"You know we could just stay here in your car for the rest of the evening," he said with a mischevious grin, eyes bright with an expression which could only be described as lust.

She grinned back, refusing to acknowledge that the idea had also crossed her mind. The back seat seemed so tempting. Not exactly comfortable, although Sam would be there to make her comfortable. But no. They were going to spend a different type of quality time together. "Let's eat!"

Sam groaned as she finally pulled away from him and started the car's engine.

Before long they found themselves at a small Mexican restaurant a short drive away and after around ten minutes they eventually dragged themselves out of the car and through the doors. It was very small, almost more of a cafe than a restaurant, "But the food here is amazing" Mercedes assured him. It had been one of JJ's favourite spots for food and it was one of the few things that she actually agreed with him on.

Once they were seated and had ordered drinks they sat in contented silence at the table. Sam took one of her hands in his and held it on top of the table, smiling, his green eyes sparkling at her.

"Thanks for bringing me here. It's been an age since I've eaten Mexican food."

She'd suspected that was the case and that was why they were here. After picking Italian for the last date she wanted it to be something a little more different on the taste buds. "But you haven't looked at the food menu yet!"

"No need. I'm having a burrito. I know what I like and I know what I want. Why should I even bother to look at what else is on offer?"

Ordinarily she would have suggested being adventurous and selecting something unusual from the menu but she didn't miss the double meaning of his words and the way in which he gazed at her intensely as he said them so she simply squeezed his hand tightly to calm the butterflies in her belly.

"What have I done to deserve you?" she almost choked on the words.

"The feeling's mutual."

She already knew what she wanted to order too.

The menus stayed untouched and they continued sitting, smiling at each other until the confused server eventually came and took their orders.

* * *

"Tell me something about yourself that I don't already know. I want to learn more about what makes Sam Evans tick."

He looked at her and smiled. His burrito was long gone and he was helping Mercedes to finish her tacos. "I used to draw a lot."

"Like the stuff you scribble in your note books when you think nobody is looking?"

"Yeah. But loads more. I used to make up characters and do entire cartoon strips for them. I could sit for hours just scribbling. I still have some of the books at the motel. Dad wanted to get rid of them saying we don't have the space but they're a part of me that I can't let go of."

"Why don't you do it so much now?"

"Now I have my guitar. I find it a better way to express myself. The cartoons started getting a bit dark, especially when the bullying against me was at its worst, but my music teacher helped me to channel my feelings into music and it was a much better release."

"Can I see some of your stuff?"

He paused. He'd never shown his work to anyone before. But Mercedes wasn't just anyone. "Sure. I'll show you next time you come round. Just don't judge me, okay?"

"I could never judge you Sam. If your drawings are anywhere near as amazing as your music, I'm sure they'll all be pretty much awesome."

He chuckled nervously at that statement. "OK so it's your turn Mizz Jones. Tell me something about you."

She thought long and hard before answering. "I always wanted to play the piano."

Sam looked up at her, surprised as she continued. "I really love singing with just a piano accompaniment. Sometimes I get jealous of Tina when she's on the piano. She has such an expression of calmness and happiness when she plays."

"So why don't you learn? I'm sure Brad would be willing to help you out with a couple of lessons."

"Brad - Brad is amazing. He's even more underappreciated in Glee than I am! And yet he's always there for us every single time. That man is fierce!"

Sam raised his hand for a high-five "Amen sista!"

She laughed.

"So go get some lessons. Pursue your dream."

She shook her head sadly. "I tried a couple of lessons back when I was younger. But like me, my fingers are short and fat and were clumsy on the keys."

He took her hand in both of his and brought it up to his lips, kissing it gently. "I never want to hear you describing yourself like that Mercy. You're not short and fat. You are beautiful. And I am crazy about you exactly as you are right now. I know you said you go up and down with your confidence, but just promise me anytime you're on a down just come to me and I'm sure I can think of ways of letting you know that your body is very much appreciated!"

Mercedes swallowed rapidly to keep down her rising emotions. How on earth had she managed to wind up with the most amazing boyfriend on the planet?

* * *

As they left the restaurant they noticed bright lights in the distance. Mercedes had forgotten that there was a small fair in town for that week. "Shall we go and have a look? It's Monday so it'll be the quietest night."

She was right. It was very quiet. In fact, some of the stalls and attractions still weren't open yet open. They knew they didn't have much time, but Sam's puppy dog eyes had persuaded her that they should at least try out the 'Tunnel of Love'. She'd grinned at his pathetic attempt at romance but liked the idea anyway.

It wasn't until they had climbed into one of the small 2-seater cars headed towards the opening doors that it occurred to them that being caught on this ride would be the end of their secret romance. The thought didn't last long as the kisses came as soon as the darkness hit.

Before they knew it they were back out in the darkness and under the night sky and artificial lights. If anyone had asked them what was inside the ride they would have been sorely disappointed. Our lovebirds had no clue as their eyes had been closed and their senses focused solely on each other throughout the whole duration of it.

As their car drew to a stop she felt Sam stiffen. She noticed he was straining his eyes to look at something and she hastily turned her head to try and follow where he was looking. All she saw was a rapidly departing afro. Of the Jewish kind...

"Is that who I think-"

Sam nodded barely imperceptibly. "We locked eyes for a split second before he turned and ran."

Mercedes groaned. "So much for keeping this a secret! We'll be the top item on the Muckraker on the first morning of school!"

Sam shrugged. "Is that such a bad thing?"

It was Mercedes turn to stiffen. "So you want to start telling people?"

"Not yet. It's like we said to Kurt and Blaine. This summer is ours. I want to be with you with no distractions. But I've been thinking about when we go back to school. I don't know if I could take staying quiet while some guy checks you out in the hallway. I want it to be you that I kiss at the sidelines whenever we win a game. I want it to be you that I sit next to holding hands with at lunchtime. It's you that I want to sneak into the janitor's closet with. I want to sing you the song that I've been writing for you in Glee club. I want people to see that we're in this together and that we're solid. Whatever they throw at us we can fight back because we've had all summer to get strong. Mercedes and Sam. They won't have seen us coming!"

She thought about it carefully. "So we'll start telling them at school?"

"I propose we say nothing. We just be ourselves. Once Jacob's rumor gets out they'll see that we're not surprised or bothered by it and neither should they be."

It was her turn to shrug. "Maybe I could work with that."

He touched her cheek tenderly. "Mercy you're the best!"

Mercedes' phone alarm went off in her pocket and she cursed.

"What's wrong?" asked Sam, looking concerned as she punched buttons on her phone trying to turn of the noise.

"30 minutes 'til curfew. We need to head back to the car right now so that I can drop you off and get home before dad goes on the warpath. He was already reluctant for me to be out on a date on a Monday but being summer break he couldn't really stop me."

They hurried back to the car and before they knew it they were back in the motel parking lot saying a painful goodbye. Her phone buzzed again for her ten minute warning and she hastily pushed him out of the door. It was a six minute drive if the traffic lights were kind.

Sam leaned into her open window one last time and wiggled his eybrows suggestively "It's a shame you have to rush off, I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night... for some toast!"

Mercedes laughed. His Mexican accent was appalling although she suspected he was intentionally doing it badly. She blew him a kiss, "Goodnight Ignacio," she smiled in her best nun's voice, making a mental note to watch Nacho Libre again when she got the first available opportunity.


	13. Day 35: Signs Of Hope

Day 35: Wednesday

"Son, I just wanted to apologize for the other night. I was out of order and I'm sorry."

Sam's day had been terrible. He'd woken up with stomach cramps during the night and they'd taken a long time to ease up. He couldn't be sure if it was something he had eaten, stress or the fact that he was coming down with something. He'd stayed in bed until the last possible moment before going to work. Thankfully by mid-morning the pain had sufficiently eased but he felt like an exhausted wreck.

At work his manager had been in a foul mood and his colleague Todd had called in sick so he was not only rushed off his feet, he was also bearing the full brunt of his employer's irrationality. What he really wanted to do was be snuggled up somewhere in the arms of Mercedes but that wasn't going to happen until tomorrow. Then to top things off a customer had blamed him for mixing up an order when in reality they had just simply changed their mind but he had still had some money docked.

And now, just when he thought he would get a little bit of quiet, his dad chose this to be the second time in forever to actually be home early. Sam's first thought was that he might have said or done something out of line to Mercedes if she'd still been there when he arrived. If he had, he knew that there was no self-restraint left in him however much he wanted to be the better person and he could no longer be held responsible for his actions.

But his dad had simply followed him into the bathroom and made the apology.

Sam didn't know what to say. Right now he still couldn't even look his dad in the eye so he had no idea if the apology was genuine or not.

But it was going to take more than a few words to make things right between them. Their argument had ended abruptly the last time due to the arrival of his mom and there were still things that he didn't get the chance to say. Taking a moment he took a deep breath in through his nose and released it slowly through his mouth.

"Did you hear me Sam? I apologized."

"I heard." Sam kept his eyes focused on the small basin in the corner, his emotions in complete turmoil at this sudden unexpected apology.

"So... are we cool then?"

Sam repeated the slow breathing before turning to face the man he'd been happily avoiding since their last encounter. "Not really." Sam's knew he should be forgiving but he really wasn't feeling it right now.

Dwight Evans winced at the response as if he'd been hit. He stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what more he could say or do to make things better. "I saw your friend earlier."

"Not friend dad, _girlfriend_!"

"Ok, whatever. Did you tell her what I'd said the last time? She looked at me a bit strangely."

"Of course I didn't tell her! I'm ashamed that words like that can come from any blood relative of mine. I would rather die than let her hear them from my lips. And neither will Kurt so you don't have to worry about that either."

His dad remained silent and Sam chuckled dryly, "Maybe she looked at you strangely because she could smell the alcohol on you like I can right now."

The older man froze and Sam bravely took a step closer. "Now that I'm stuck talking to you, I may as well get an answer for my question which has been burning me for a while now." From nowhere Sam suddenly felt a surge of confidence. He'd been keeping so much inside for so long and now he was finally getting the chance to let some of it out. "Where exactly are you finding the money from to buy drink? This week there's barely been enough money for food!"

His dad got noticeably paler and leaned back against the door of the shower while Sam leaned in. They'd been speaking in hushed whispers so as not to wake the kids, but Sam's whisper had just got even quieter and colder. "Because every day you vanish early in the morning and return late at night but there's never a cent to show for it. Yet you always seem to smell like a freaking brewery! I work my butt off every day to get things for the kids. Basic things that we shouldn't even have to think about. I bring home all my cash and hand over every cent for the family! I live in a twisted world where I go out on a date and my girl has to pay! She has the moral backbone to refuse to take a single cent away from me if it could be used for this family instead. And I just have to smile and swallow my pride because I know that she's right and I know that it's not forever. But that doesn't make it any easier and it will never make it right."

As usual, once Sam's mouth had started running off with itself there was no stopping it. "Then there's the stuff you said about Mercedes and Kurt. Why would you do that? You say you're not a racist but you sure acted like one. Mom says you've been hanging out with ignorant people who have narrow minded ideas. I'm going to put it down to you hanging with them and I really hope that their influence doesn't continue to rub off on you. You're a much better person than that otherwise you wouldn't have brought me up the way you did. You're totally on your own when it comes to believing that bullshit." Dwight opened his mouth to call Sam out for his cursing but he stared back at him, challenging to argue that the word wasn't being used in the correct context. "And most importantly there's Stevie and Stacy. They constantly ask where you are and we constantly have to make lame-ass excuses for you. All they want from you is kisses and cuddles and to be told that you love them. Those things don't cost a thing. And mom – poor loyal mom defends you. _All_ the time! _Whatever_ happens! She says I just need to give you the time and space to right yourself. So I do. And I watch. And I wait. But all I see you do is break her heart a little more every day! She's a good woman and she doesn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve _you!_"

Sam ran out of steam then. He had more that he wanted to say but all his energy had left him. He was no longer angry, he was just deflated. He leaned back against the bathroom wall. Then, as his legs buckled underneath him, he slowly slid down to the floor where stayed, pale faced, clutching his knees for comfort. All the pain and hurt had bubbled back to the surface again and it completely wiped him out.

Of all the responses he'd expected from his dad, the one that he received was totally unexpected. The man said nothing. For a whole minute he didn't move a muscle, staring incredulously at his son as if he'd never seen him before. Then a single tear escaped his left eye. He opened his mouth to say something but words did not come out so he closed it again.

Finally he pushed himself away from leaning against the shower and moved to the floor and pulled his son into an unwilling embrace.

Sam hadn't wanted the hug, but he didn't have the energy to pull away from it. The man was still his dad. They'd had many good times together in the past. He still wanted to love him.

"I'm so sorry Sam!" This time his words sounded a hundred times more sincere than the first apology. "I was totally out of order that night. I guess I haven't been around enough to see how much you've all been suffering. I have to admit, I do avoid being here because this room just depresses the hell out of me. But it's wrong of me to abandon you all like this and it was wrong of me to say things that I didn't mean."

"Dad, your dinking scares me! Every night I worry that you'll crash the car or get arrested and put in jail. Then where would we be?"

His dad nodded. "I guess I've been trying to run away from the whole crappy situation. And the drink just helps to blot it out."

"But ignoring things doesn't make them go away."

Mr Evans smiled and rubbed Sam's shoulder. "When did my son suddenly get so grown up and wise?"

"Since he was forced to," was the bitter reply.

There was no easy comeback for that. "How about this? What if I was to say that from now on we try and start again?"

Sam looked at him curiously. "How?"

"I'll spend more time here with the family when I can instead of being out."

"And the drink?"

"The drink stops."

"And you'll come to church?"

"Well..."

"Dad, however you may feel about faith at the moment, church is the one thing that we always did together as a family. It would mean so much to us if you came, even if it was just this Sunday to prove that you're serious about making a change."

"Okay. Just for this week. Just for you."

For the first time since arriving home Sam smiled. He really wanted to believe this. He really _needed_ to believe it for all their sakes. This was his dad and he wanted to love him. He couldn't be the strong one all the time and he hated to admit it but he really did need and miss him. "Thanks dad. It'll mean a lot to all of us." Another wave of exhaustion passed over him and he knew that he had to go to bed. It wasn't just a physical tiredness, it was an emotional one. His dad had shed a tear but he hadn't and he didn't want to. Not right now.

He shakily pulled himself up to his feet. "I'm off to bed now."

His dad also stood and pulled his son into another embrace, kissing the top of his head softly. "Ok. I'll be out shortly."

As Sam reached for the handle of the door he felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned to see his dad smiling, "By the way Sam, I forgot to say that I like the haircut!"

* * *

Mary Evans was surprised to find the room in darkness when she came home from work. She was even more surprised to see both Evans men motionless in their beds.

She had no way of knowing that both were, in fact, wide awake, mentally replaying the hushed conversation that had played out earlier that evening in the bathroom and avoiding any further conversation.

And it would be for Sam to tell her tomorrow of the good news that her husband was going to try and make things better for them.

For now it was just left for her to wonder what had gone on. She knew their last confrontation had ended badly and as she closed her eyes and curled up to sleep, she prayed that this was the first sign of things finally getting better.


	14. Day 36: Future Plans

**_This is a short bonus chapter which wasn't in the original because at the time I wrote it was written, Samcedes spending time at the lake wasn't cannon._**

* * *

Day 36: Thursday

A whole day. They never got to have a whole day together and now today it was actually going to happen. Well, technically Sam had to work from seven but the kids were already being looked after so he was hers for the duration of the day. It was an hour drive to get to the lake but for once they actually had time to make the journey. They held hands in the car for the entire ride up and there was a light in Sam's eyes that warmed her heart. He looked relaxed. Often he would be tense and it would take a few minutes for him being with her to ease up, but today he seemed a little lighter. He always seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and it was great to see him a little less preoccupied with it.

They arrived early and the lake area was still pretty much deserted when they got there. Knowing they had several hours, they opted to take a walk through the shady wooded area surrounding the water. Sam surprised her with his detailed knowledge of the flora and fauna and she wondered when the hell he'd had time to learn all of that stuff. It was lovely though, just to take the time to walk and talk as if they didn't have a care in the world. Sam told her about his trips when he was younger and his obsession with National Parks. It went some way to explain why he was so good at knowing what was around them.

They spent most of the morning just walking, talking and enjoying each other's company until finally finding a secluded spot to have some lunch. Mercedes had made wraps filled with thick slices of pork and coleslaw with chocolate cake to follow and homemade lemonade to wash it down. She smiled as Sam wiped a stray bit of coleslaw from the corner of her mouth with his finger then shuddered as he then proceeded to painfully slowly lick the finger clean, his eyes holding hers the entire time. That boy did things to her insides that made her want to do things her brain told her she wasn't quite ready for yet.

Eventually, when all the food was gone, they lay on their backs under the shade of their selected tree, digesting the food and basking in the simple presence of each other. They lay side by side, not so much holding hands as simply playing with each other's entwined fingers while staring up at the bright blue sky, finding shapes in the fluffy cotton-like clouds.

Mercedes sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do this trip. There has to be some way I can get out of it!"

Sam squeezed her hand tighter. "There's no way. You know that. Besides, I thought that you were looking forward to being a bridesmaid."

"I was. But Randelle has _five_! It's not like she'd miss one. Besides, instead of having to smile for endless photos I'd rather be with you."

He chuckled. "It won't be so bad. And anyway, think of your cousin, it's her perfect day, and you being there will be part of that. I'll still be here waiting when you get back!"

She nudged him. "You'd better be!"

"Hmmm… Or maybe I should just go and find myself a replacement!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

He snuck a quick glance at her before staring back up at the sky. "Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't. It would have been great if the wedding was here and I could've been your plus one. Imagine, it would be just like prom all over again. Besides, I like weddings."

This time she shot a glance at him. "Really? You?"

"Yeah. Everyone's dressed smart and there's loads of food and dancing and stuff. What's there not to like?"

Put that way she could see his point. But apparently her cousin was turning into a bit of a Bridezilla as the date approached. "I heard last night that she's thinking of releasing helium balloons and doves as soon as the ceremony is over! That's just totally unnecessary and expensive!"

Another comfortable silence descended as he considered what she said before replying. "I don't know. I think it sounds pretty romantic." He paused again. "Do you think you're gonna get married one day?"

It was a general question but the fact that it was being asked by a certain person made her heart race. The tone of his voice had changed slightly as the words had come out. It was as if he was trying so hard to be casual and flippant that it actually drew more attention to the seriousness of the question. But they were just a couple of high school kids approaching their senior year. He wasn't asking the question in _that _way. He probably just realized how it might have sounded as the words were coming out and tried to style out his potential faux pas.

However she already knew her answer to that question. She'd decided it a long long time ago. "After I win my first Grammy."

"Sounds like a plan! Just don't forget your humble beginnings when the time comes coz I know this awesome guy with great impressions who's totally into you!"

She grinned hard and pretended that the conversation hadn't just crossed and invisible line. She tried to deflect the situation with humor. I'll bear that in mind. Just leave his name with my publicist and he can set up some X-Factor style auditions."

"Uh huh. Okay."

She could hear the smile in Sam's voice but both stayed very still, their eyes focused on the sky, aware that they had crossed a line with the current conversation but not wanting to draw extra attention to it. They were just high school kids. It wasn't like Sam was actually proposing! But he wasn't letting this conversation drop. "So if doves are too much, do you think a girl would like a superhero wedding? You know, the whole wedding party doing cosplay-"

His words ended suddenly with a poke in the ribs. "Sam Evans, I think I can speak for the whole of my gender when I say that unless a girl is _completely_ obsessed with cosplay and does it regularly, the whole idea of a superhero wedding has the potential of going down really badly."

He sighed. "Okay, I guess you're right."

Mercedes simply closed her eyes and grinned at the genuine disappointment that was conveyed in his voice.

* * *

"This was perfect. We have to hang out here more often!" They each grabbed a corner of the blanket and worked together to fold it neatly before putting it back in its bag.

"Definitely. Whenever you have a free day we can just come down. And the kids can come too. I bet they'd love to have a splash in the water."

"Stevie would definitely love it. We'll all go in!"

Mercedes shook her head. "You just want to see me get my hair wet!"

He grinned wickedly. "Nope. I just want to see you in a swimsuit!"

"SAM!" She whacked him hard on the shoulder which only made him laugh harder. She was finding it less easy to laugh. The way that his eyes had roamed her body as he'd referred to her in a swimsuit had left her feeling a little breathless. There is no way she could wear one around him. There were a multitude of reasons, the greatest being her inability to hid the way her nipples hardened and poked through her clothing when she thought of him. A swimsuit leaves nowhere to hide and she was already having thought of seeing his junk in his trunks that she really shouldn't have been having! She looked at Sam who was staring at her with a smile on his face. "What are you grinning about?"

He tugged her wrist to pull her flush against him before dipping his head to kiss first her nose and then her lips. "I'm still thinking about this wedding you're going to. It's going to be really important to let the all the single guys know that this particular bridesmaid is off limits. They'll have to choose from the other four!"

Reaching up on tiptoes she placed another small kiss on his lips and smiled up into his eyes. "They'll all be at arm's length Sam, because my heart belongs to you."

And she truly meant it.


	15. Day 37: Superman

Day 37: Friday

Mercedes couldn't help but smile. Sam was wearing jeans and a very _very_ well fitting Superman t-shirt which was proving to be a total distraction. Something that she was sure that he'd done intentionally. This weekend they had swapped their days around. Sam for the third weekend in a row been invited by Finn to join the boys for a gaming session at his house and there was no way of continually avoiding it if they were wanted to keep their relationship on the down low. Fortunately it had worked out well. Kurt had wanted to take Mercedes on a pre-Florida shopping trip to the mall and the two of them hadn't really caught up since their double date.

Her mom had a rare day working from home which meant that Sam was able to come round on the Friday instead. Among her father's list of ground rules for dating Sam was the strict instruction that they were not allowed to be alone in the house together. It was frustrating, but they weren't going to fight it for now. It had been her idea to move the Doctor Who session to Friday instead of Saturday morning. Sam had the late shift which meant he didn't start work until 5 which meant that they would again have a good amount of the day to spend together. Plus it meant that she got to see him a day sooner and that was always good with her. Spending time with him at the lake only made her want to spend even more time together, not less.

As was his habit, he was early. Mrs Jones let him. Mercedes was still in the shower so he followed her through to the kitchen, wondering if it was wrong that he found the older woman so attractive. Mercedes growing up to look like her mom would make him a very happy man. She'd been in the midst of making pancakes and had completely won his heart over by inviting him and his family to join them for a barbeque on the first Sunday after they returned from Florida. They would go to church together again then come straight back to the house in order to help set things up. A few others from church would join them slightly later.

By the time Mercedes was finally finished with her morning routine she found him sitting at the breakfast bar with the most recently made pancake half eaten on a plate and a huge smile on his face, already resolved to jog to work afterwards to burn off some of the syrup.

They took the rest through to the den and snuggled into their usual position on the sofa with Mercedes' head against his chest and his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey I never asked you yesterday. What happened with your dad?"

Sam was confused. How did she even know?

He'd forgotten the minor detail that she had been at the motel when his dad had returned early two days before.

"He came in while I was babysitting on Wednesday so I let him put the kids to bed." She sighed heavily, "He smelled like a brewery Sam. I'm really concerned for you guys! Part of me didn't want to leave the kids alone with him but they were so excited to see him, especially Stacey."

He pulled her in closer, wondering who exactly it was that he was trying to comfort with his action before concluding that it was probably both of them. The it was his turn for the heavy sigh. She sat up straighter so that she could look him properly in the eye. Even though he wanted to be positive he was still filled with nagging doubts. He forced a smile and was met by a frown from Mercedes. She was reading him again and it never failed to unnerve him.

"Hey! Don't frown! He actually apologized that night!"

"For the drinking and never being around?"

"Yeah." Sam hated lying to Mercedes. But he'd remembered too late that the apology had actually been for the things his dad had said, for the things he'd resolved never to repeat to another soul.

Her interest was piqued. "So what exactly happened?"

"I guess I finally let rip with all the stuff I had been bottling up for the last couple of months. I confronted him about the drinking, the money and how he's been abandoning the family and treating mom so bad. You know how my mouth runs off when I get started."

She smiled softly. Of course she did. He did his best to mirror that smile. "Hell, I even brought up the fact that he no longer comes to church anymore!"

The smile turned into a chuckle. "I'm sure you did. So what did he say?"

"For a while he didn't say anything. He just looked shocked. Then he started to cry and hugged me and apologized and said that from now on he was going to try harder."

"And do you believe him?"

"I really want to Mercy. I do. But... I don't know. I guess it's just that I feel he's broken my trust, and that's not something you can repair in five minutes. But I do mean it when I say I really want to."

"I know you do." She touched his cheek tenderly, following it with the lightest brush of a kiss.

"He says he's going to spend more time with the family from now on so we'll wait and see if it actually happens."

"Give him time Sam."

He grinned. "So now you sound exactly like my mom! But you're right. I just hate that you're right!"

She grinned back, nudging him with her shoulder. "You love it really!"

_Actually, it's you I love!_ For a split second he worried his thought had been vocalized but it hadn't. Too soon. She was new to all this and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. The intensity of his feelings were already scaring him. Instead he simply kissed her hoping that would convey his thoughts without words.

She moaned and kissed him back. For once he was the first to break the kiss. He had to. If she moaned like that again he would lose all control, get caught and ultimately be banned from seeing her forever! "Your mom…"

Mercedes gave him one more small kiss then smiled before biting her bottom lip. "Yeah… I guess… She's promised to drop in randomly throughout the morning just to make sure we're behaving."

And after their experience with her dad and the prayer a few days before Sam didn't doubt it. He grabbed the remote. "Come on Mercy. It's time to get to the bottom of the whole Bad Wolf thing. I hope you bought Kleenex!"

"Kleenex?" She couldn't tell if he was joking or not. This wasn't going to turn out to be sad was it?

"Nah, forget tissues. You have my permission to use my shirt."

Oh yeah, that Superman shirt was definitely intentional...

* * *

It was too nice a day to eat lunch inside so they say on the loveseat in the garden enjoying the warmth of the sun.

"You know I could get used to days like this," said Sam as he fed Mercedes a strawberry from his plate. They tasted nearly as good as her lip gloss.

She nodded, her mouth full. "So could I. I don't want this summer to end."

"Me either."

"So have you stopped hating on the 10th Time Lord yet?"

She smiled. "He's growning on me."

"Just like I grew on you?" His eyebrow raised expectantly.

The smile broadened. "I guess you could put it that way."

"In that case I strongly suspect that you guys are going to be getting on just fine."

Mercedes ran her finger along the outline of the giant 'S' on the front of his shirt. "Is that so?"

"Hmmmmmm..." Sam really wished that she wouldn't touch him like that. Not when they were in full view of the window. Not when they could be potentially caught by a watchful parent or neighbor. Today was good, but he needed to come up with a plan to get some proper alone time with his girl.

"So what will you guys be playing while I'm out with Kurt tomorrow?"

Sam shrugged. He was still a little put out about the change of plans. If he'd had his way they would be seeing each other both Friday _and_ Saturday rather than instead of. "I dunno. Maybe World of Warcraft? You know, much as I hate shopping, I'd rather be coming to the mall with you."

Mercedes laughed. "One day in the future I'll hold you to that statement and you'll regret those words ever coming out of you lips!"

"Maybe, maybe not!"

"Look, Kurt and I can't chat about how wonderful our boyfriends are if you're actually going to be there. Besides, I genuinely do have stuff I need to get for this trip. Number one item is a swimsuit."

"Swimsuit!" Sam groaned at the thought. "So how come Kurt gets to see you trying on swimsuits and not me! I think there's something wrong with this picture. Maybe Kurt's not gay after all!"

Mercedes laughed even harder. "The boy is a style guru. He can't be anything but!" After noticing her assurance didn't help in any way she continued "Ok, when I get back we'll go somewhere that we can go back to the lake and wear our swimsuits. I'm pretty sure you'd look pretty hot in swim shorts too."

She was met with an equally hard laugh and he made a mock offended face. "If I'm not wrong I think the phrase you used was 'totally ripped'!"

That made her cringe and bury her face in her hands. "I was so mortified that I'd said that out loud, and even more mortified that you remembered it the next day! I wanted the ground to swallow me up!"

"I dunno. I kinda liked that you thought of me that way. It was the ego boost I needed that afternoon. And hugging you afterwards was the highlight of my week."

She thought back to that hug in the car park of the Lima Bean, before anything was really thought of between them. "And look how far we've come now," she said softly.

Sam just smiled back at her, his green eyes sparkling with that expression of puppydog adoration reserved exclusively for one Miss Mercedes Jones.

* * *

As always, far too soon it was time for Sam to leave and head for work. Despite his intention of jogging to work, the combination of a healthy lunch and not wanting to leave Mercedes meant that he now willingly accepted her offer of a ride.

Much to his surprise, Mrs Jones had given him a warm hug on his way out. "Don't forget," she'd said, "Your family is coming for church and barbeque when we get back from our trip."

He nodded, wishing her and the family a safe journey, already dreaming of the wonderful food they would eat on their return and knowing Stevie and Stacy would be so excited when they heard about the plans. They still spoke constantly of the time they came to Mercedes' house.

"I've had a wonderful day Mercy." He finally climbed out of the car outside the pizza store. It had taken a while but he'd finally managed to detach his face from hers, taking the last remnants of her lip gloss with him.

"Me too." She wanted him to come round every day.

"I don't know how I'm going to cope for those 10 days without you!"

She laughed. "I keep telling you. It's only 10 days and you'll be seeing me again before I go. I'll miss you too. But I'll be back before you know it then we can make up for lost time."

"Make up for lost time?" His eyebrows shot up with amused curiosity, "Now that's a concept I can really get with!"

"Shut up Sam and keep your lewd thoughts to yourself!"

He replied with a smirk which she tried her best to ignore. "See you Sunday!" Blowing him a kiss she pulled the car away before she succumbed to the urge to leap out of the car and kiss him one more time...


	16. Day 39 Part 1: Wicked Thoughts

Day 39: Sunday

Mercedes was feeling happy as she drove to Sam's motel. There was something about the anticipation of seeing him that created little butterflies in her stomach. She was under strict instruction not to stay out too late due to travelling the next day, but babysitting for a couple of hours with Sam was better than not seeing him at all. The deal with her parents was that she was allowed to be in the motel with him to babysit together as long as the kids were up, but as soon as they went to bed she had to leave. And there were to be no excuses about the kids staying up longer than normal. Mr and Mrs Jones knew what time the Evans kids went to sleep and they knew how long it took to dive back to the motel.

She didn't understand why she had to have parents who clearly seemed to live in the dark ages but she was going to do her best not to put a foot wrong. As crazy as she was about Sam, she'd rather stay within the rules and still see him than break them and be forced to stay away. The fact that pregnant Quinn had lived with them had made her parents even stricter when it had come to alcohol and boys. Something that had never really bothered Mercedes in the past because neither thing had really affected her (alcohol at Rachel's party being the exception), but now that she was seeing Sam, she was starting to curse that they knew so much about what had happened to Quinn and how the boys in her Glee club had been behaving.

After she parked the car she paused, checking herself in the rearview mirror and reapplying her strawberry lipgloss. Today was going to be an afternoon of slouching around so she had opted for comfy jeans and a loose fitting gypsy style top which made the most of her bust without showing too much cleavage. Understatedly sexy she liked to call it.

Before she was able to tap on the door it was swung open by a grinning Sam. The grin was accompanied by an unusual glint in his eye. She'd seen that glint before and it made the butterflies in her tummy go into spasm. She quickly eyed inside the room. No, the kids weren't hiding, they definitely _weren't there_. As the thought entered into her head he'd already grabbed her, pulling her into the room and kissing her quickly, making short work of dislodging the gloss that she had only just applied.

"What have you done with them?" she asked when she finally caught her breath. The kiss was long and intense. Somehow Sam never needed to come up for air but she always eventually did.

He grinned. "Their friend's mom is bringing them back at five."

"Five! But you told me four thirty!"

"I know!" The glint got bigger as did the grin. "I just wanted to spend a little time alone with you. Maybe I'll even get the chance to kiss you properly."

"Oh yeah?" she teased, perching herself on the end of the kid's bed. There was something about rebelling against her parents rules of being alone with Sam that made her feel heady.

"Hell to the yeah!" There was no way on earth the grin could get any bigger and his eyes darkened and glazed as they skimmed over her and her outfit before returning their focus back to her lips.

"You looked like you were just having wicked thoughts," giggled Mercedes as he joined her to perch and started to nuzzle her neck.

"I wouldn't call them wicked," he traced a trail of small sweet kisses along her exposed collarbone, "Lustful perhaps... But never wicked..."

Mercedes couldn't actually form a reply. She was lost in the sensation of his face in her neck and was busy deciding that the strange expression that had been on his face when he opened the door must be the one people refer to as 'horny'! He had planned this all along and she had absolutely no desire to fight this!

Somehow she found herself lying back on the bed. She was moaning and there was a strange sensation in the place Sam was kissing.

"Oh my god Sam DON'T!"

"Don't what?" he hadn't moved one millimeter.

"Don't leave a mark. I'm going to be on the beach with my parents. There's no way to hide- oh wow!" He groaned but had changed to soothing the spot with feather soft kisses while his hands moved round to the small of her back.

"So do you like your little surprise?" He lifted his face so that it was right in front of hers, the front of his shortened hair barely reaching his eyes but still screaming to be touched, his voice breathless.

Her response was to reach her hands into his hair, scraping the scalp with her nails and relishing the feel of it between her fingers before pulling his head forward, bringing his lips down towards hers, swollen lips meeting and crashing onto each other, tongues dancing an intimate tango.

Time ceased to exist in that little room. Suddenly it was void of everything except two wild young hearts.

Mercedes was sure she had been abducted by aliens at then returned to exactly the same spot.

Somehow Sam's shirt was open and there were marks. The kind of marks that she couldn't be caught with on her skin. How did they get there? When did that happen?

But then she remembered the firmness of his torso and the heady smell of his skin. Oh yeah. So maybe it was her...

They were a tangle of limbs on the bed and she did indeed feel 'properly kissed.' Her top was still on but it was... dislodged. Dislodge- now that was a funny word. Why was she thinking of funny words at a moment like this? Now that they were comfortable this was definitely a step up from their steamy goodbyes in the car. This was definitely _making out. _Those funny words again. Anything as a distraction to the fact that his hands had now worked their way underneath her top to her breasts, first lightly skimming her sides before moving his palms inwards to make full contact. He met her eyes with a silent question and she replied with a kiss, pressing herself more firmly against his hands. Surely under the top but over the bra was okay. Nobody had explained the rules of this to her before and all she knew was that Sam's hands felt so good they made her entire body shudder. And when he flicked his thumb over the nipple that was now so hard it had to have been poking out of the damn lace-

She felt Sam suddenly freeze.

"What? Did I do something wrong Sam? Show me how to do it better-"

Then she heard the noise that had made Sam stop his movements. It was the motel room phone.

"Shit!" She'd never hear Sam curse in that tone before. "Sorry Mercy. It's just that only a couple of people have this number. It's for emergencies only. It can't be good news."

She looked at him concerned but he smiled back at her reassuringly. "It's okay. We'll just ignore it."

As the words came out of his mouth the ringing stopped.

He stroked her side gently and started to plant kisses on her clavicle which she knew were going to end up moving lower. "Now, where were we?"

She backed away slightly. "Sam, it could have been something important!"

"If it was something important they'll ring agai-" He was stopped short by the sound of the ring resuming.

She looked expectantly at him and he sighed heavily, starting to rebutton his shirt as he reached for the phone. "Hello?"

There was a short silence.

"Yes, that's me."

Mercedes looked intently at him as she sat up on the bed, straightening her top. Her body suddenly felt cold after the removal of his body heat and the mood was completely gone as she saw the expression on his face.

"Dad what the hell-"

She had never heard him raise his voice like that and it scared her.

He stayed quiet for an impossibly long time, his eyes closed and his fingers rubbing his temples.

Then he was angry again. "Look, I don't care about that! Just tell me where the car is!"

More silence.

"But we don't have the money!"

He looked like he was only half listening to the response.

"Of course I'll go and get the car right now. But as far as I'm concerned you can stay there and rot!"

The silence was even longer.

"You've ruined everything dad." This time his voice was softer. Barely a whisper, but so full of pain that it broke Mercedes heart.

He finally replaced the phone, his face as white as a sheet, and sank to the floor.


	17. Day 39 Part 2: A Bad Hand Of Cards

Day 39: Sunday Continued

As soon as the call ended Mercedes leaped from where she was sitting, immediately cradling him in her arms.

"Sam? Sam what's happened? What's going on?"

He remained silent, shaking his head, his face still as pale as a sheet.

"Sam PLEASE!" she begged, "Something's happened. Is there anything I can do?"

Again he shook his head but this time he looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears.

She knew it had to be something bad. Very bad. She'd never seen him in this bad shape before. Sam was always so good at putting on a brave face.

"Where is it that you have to go? Can I give you a ride somewhere?"

Still nothing.

"Dammit Sam! SPEAK to me!"

She finally managed to jolt him out of his stupor.

"My dad..."

Yeah she'd figured out that much. That no good douchebag had gotten himself in some sort of trouble. But whatever had happened it was tearing her boy apart.

"...He's crashed the car!"

"Oh my god! Is he ok?"

"He's in the hospital right now. He'll live."

"What happened?"

"His stupid drinking is what happened! He lost control of the car and went into a ditch. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt so he smacked onto the steering wheel. His friend in the passenger seat bailed as soon as it happened and he ran too. He didn't want the police to find him and realize that he was drunk behind the wheel so he abandoned the car. A couple of streets away he collapsed, someone found him and he got taken to hospital. I have to go and find the car before it gets towed. It's our lifeline! Hopefully the stupid idiot hasn't damaged it too much."

"Sam he's your dad! He could have died!"

"Yes he could. And where would that have left us? That man is selfish to the end! On Thursday he looked me in the eye and _promised _me we'd be together as a family this morning, yet he was already gone when we woke up. AGAIN! He cares more about his drink and his stupid friends than he does about us! He wasn't even supposed to be out there!" The fire was back. Sam leaped up, frantically searching for the spare car keys.

She joined him in the search. "I'll take you."

As he smiled back at her gratefully there was a tap at the door.

"Oh my god the kids!" In the drama they'd both forgotten the imminent arrival of his siblings. "Cedes, can I ask you to stay here with them while I go for the car? It's not far."

"But what about your da-" he caught her eye and shook his head for her to stop speaking as he opened the door, somehow mustering a big smile and scooping his siblings into his arms.

"Cedes!" They both cried her name at the same time and ran to her.

"Hey guys!" she scooped them up herself, squeezing them even harder than usual, fearing the drama that they were about to face.

She met Sam's eyes as he closed the door behind them. He looked stricken. She wanted to reach out and hold him but not in front to the kids. They couldn't let on that anything was wrong yet.

"Sammy are you going out?" Stacy was looking at him, his hand still remained on the door. He couldn't answer.

"He just has to head out for a little bit," Mercedes replied for him, "But guess what _I_ have!" She reached into her bag for the DVD and the tupperware container nestled inside. "Somebody has Ice Age 3 and muffins!" She'd been so distracted from the moment she crossed the threshold that she had forgotten to declare the muffins to Sam. The kids squealed, immediately taking the two largest ones before settling for the movie. Sam was still at the door, willing himself to leave.

"Sam, would you like to take a muffin with you?"

He shook his head slowly. He would never normally refuse a Jones chocolate chip muffin but right now he felt like he was going to throw up. He cast her one final lingering glance before silently disappearing through the door before she could see the tears falling in his eyes.

* * *

Mercedes couldn't concentrate on the movie. Her mind kept flying back to Sam and how stricken he'd looked after taking the call. However much he hated his dad right now, the man was hurt and he needed him. He was doing the right thing.

She had never seen Sam so angry. It was if there was more to this than he had let on. She wished she could talk to him but there was no way that could happen. Without a cellphone it was impossible to reach him. She would just have to sit and wait it out.

And the wait was pure torture. Even thinking about the time they'd spent together before the phone rang didn't help. Sam had more than kept his promise to make her feel beautiful, but all that she could think of was that right now Sam was out there feeling hurt and let down by the man who should love him the most. And she hoped that she could be strong enough to help him through this.

The Evans family had already been dealt a rough hand of cards and now they'd just drawn another bad one from the pile. Surely things could only get better from here?

Just before the movie ended Mary Evans came back. Mercedes had been unsure what to say to her, if indeed the woman would even know anything about what had happened yet, but one look on her face told her that she already knew.

In a break from tradition, she'd bought burgers and fries for the kids and they squealed with delight, falling on the fast food happily. Once the kids were settled eating she pulled Mercedes into the bathroom for a quiet word.

"I'm so sorry you had to be here when all this kicked off," she began, "I wanted to leave work straight away but they said I had to work the rest of the hour and there was nobody to give me a ride back."

Mercedes pulled the smaller woman into a hug. "I'm just glad I was here. Sam was distraught and it meant that I could stay here with the kids while he went to get the car. Did he get it ok?"

"Yes. It's damaged but he's parked it up somewhere safely and now he's waiting for me at the hospital. There's some paperwork that needs sorting out. Oh Cedes this is such a mess. I'm sorry you had to be here in the middle of it."

"I'm glad I was here to help. Do you need me to stay later? I can call my parents-"

"No no! Of course not! I couldn't ask that of you. I'm going to put the kids to bed after they're eaten so they don't get worried then Mrs Jensen from next door is coming to sit with them. I know you're going away tomorrow and you need to be home yourself."

"Is there anything I can do or get before I go? Can I give you a ride to the hospital?"

She shook her head. "The walk will do me good. It's only about 30 minutes from here. They'll be keeping him in overnight for observation so I'm not in any rush." Her voice had the same bitter edge as Sam's. Just like her son, there seemed to be no overwhelming urge to fret for his wellbeing. She sighed and her shoulders sank even lower. "And Cedes, can you please not tell anyone about this? Things with Dwight lately have been so..." Mary pulled at her limp blond hair nervously, clearly at a loss to find the right words.

"Of course. Your family's business is yours alone. I won't tell a soul," she replied in her most reassuring tone.

"Thanks. We'll make sure we update you on the situation before you leave."

"I just really hope things will work out ok."

"I'm sure they will." Bur Mary didn't sound convinced by her own words.

"And just so you know-" Mercedes wasn't sure how to say this but she really wanted to say it, "If there's anything you need, anything at all, please don't afraid to ask. My family loves you. You're more to us than friends. We're here to help if you'll let us."

She was answered with a small nod and a hand squeeze of thanks.

* * *

Mercedes hated kissing the kids goodbye before movie ended, their happy innocent faces still excited by the unexpected muffins and fast food. They were being sheltered from the drama that was unfolding around them but she knew they couldn't be sheltered from it for long. The foolish actions of one person can hurt the lives of many.

As she climbed into her car and pulled out of the motel parking lot she wondered if there was anything else she could have done to help. She was sure that her dad would know someone at the hospital. And she'd promised not to tell. She knew that it wasn't for her to take things into her own hands.

She drove slowly home.

Her parents were surprised to see her back so soon, thinking she'd be gone at least another hour but she fobbed them off by saying she had a headache. Her mom had looked at her intently but she gave no further explanation.

"Mom, I just need to lie down for a bit, that's all. Then I'll come back down and fix something to eat."

It wasn't a lie. Her head _was _pounding.

But all she wanted to do was lie on her bed and cry. She was emotionally exhausted and all she wanted to do was be with Sam and know that he was doing ok.


	18. Day 40: Sitting Under Trees

_**A long chapter as the finale!**_

* * *

Day 40: Monday

Sam looked as if he hadn't slept. Hell, he looked a total mess. But when Alicia Jones opened the front door to him she made no comment on his appearance. She'd just come off the phone with Mary Evans. She simply squeezed his hand and called her daughter down, not realizing that she was already half way down the stairs in her attempt to get to the door first.

"Don't be long guys - we're leaving in less than two hours and I know for a fact that you still haven't finished your packing young lady!"

Mercedes flew straight past her in into Sam's arms.

"What happened? Is your dad ok? Is the car badly damaged? If you need cash we can help-"

Sam simply held her tight without a word, breathing in her scent and taking comfort from her presence. After a short while he gently took her hand and led her away from the house to the small empty recreation area at the end of her street. They'd been there together many times before but this time something felt different.

Something felt very wrong.

They took their usual places, seated under the tree in the corner.

Mercedes had never actually thought about it before but why were they always sitting under trees? They'd even got together in New York while sitting under a damn tree! Such a fickle though for such a serious moment. Why did always do this?

She looked up at him. The beautiful boy who made her heart sing and saw a multitude of emotions on his face. Pain, sadness, anger, confusion... None of them were emotions she ever wanted to see him going through. She didn't doubt that he'd been crying. She'd said nothing since her initial burst of questions at the front door, and now, as she touched his face softly, it spoke more than she ever could.

Sam took her hand from his cheek, kissed it and took a deep breath.

All the blood in her veins suddenly felt as though it had turned to ice. He hadn't started speaking yet but something inside told her that this was something that she wasn't going to want to hear. It was totally a gut feeling. He hadn't spoken a word yet. But the pain and regret in his eyes was unmistakable.

He took a second deep breath, clearly meaning to have spoken after the first one and not being able to. He squeezed her hands tighter and avoided her eyes. He couldn't believe he was going to do this and would have begged for any reason not to have to.

When the words came they were slow, deliberate and barely above a whisper.

"We're moving back to Tennessee to live with my grandparents."

There. He'd said it. He hoped that she wouldn't hate him!

Mercedes remained frozen. Somehow, in the split second before he had said it, she'd known what he was going to say. But it didn't make it any easier to hear.

"Surely there's some way-"

He shook his head sadly. "I've tried. I sat outside all night trying to think of different scenarios. None of them work."

"Is your dad still in hospital?"

"Yes. He's hoping to be discharged later today. He had _better_ be discharged today! He's got two broken fingers, a cracked rib and concussion."

"Oh my god!"

"And of course one hell of a hangover this morning. He got lucky. The car almost got written off. It can be fixed but it's going to be really really expensive. Then there's the medical bills including the overnight stay and the x-rays. Thankfully we managed to talk them out of an MRI! Obviously we don't have insurance so..."

"If you need money we can help!"

He shook his head. "This is something my parents have to do. They'd rather die than ask anyone outside the family for money, let alone accept charity."

She hadn't meant for it to sound like charity but understood why it could be taken that way. All the questions that she had in her head merged together in a jumbled mess and Sam took it upon himself to explain further. "Every penny we had, every penny we saved as a deposit for a place has to be used to fix up the car with the rest going towards paying part of the medical fees. My grandparents are going to give us the rest. So there goes the college fund that until this morning I didn't even realize they'd set up for me!" He paused to rub his eyes. She could see how tired he was by the dark circles under them. "The thing of it is this. The motel wants to be paid two weeks in advance and we just don't have the money. Simple things like food and meds for my dad tip us over the edge. I found out last night that my dad hasn't done any work at all for the last six weeks! While my mom has been struggling the whole time with two jobs! But neither of her jobs have any extra shifts for at least a week and mine is minimum wage and pathetic tips. It's our food and gas money only."

"Oh my god Sam. I had no idea things were really that bad!"

"We're paid up at the motel until next Thursday but with every penny used there's no way we can afford to pay up for the next two weeks in time so we'll have to get out on the last day."

Her heart began to pound. "But Sam I don't get back until next Friday night..."

"I know," he said sadly, his head bowed.

"But-" The full extent of the harshness of Sam's reality began to sink in. And so did the fact that this was going to be the last time that she saw him! The blood in Mercedes' veins changed from ice to fire. She was angry. Angrier than she had ever felt in her life. She'd only just got Sam. He had no right to go away and leave her behind like this!

"But surely your family can go and you can stay? It's your senior year. Maybe you can move in with Kurt or something?"

He shook his head slowly. "I've been up all night thinking about it. Trying to work out what I can do to be able to stay. I can't ask that of Kurt. He has his own new family that he's adjusting to. And ultimately, we're only 16 years old. Much as I'd love nothing more than to get away from my dad, there's no way that my family would move without me. We have to stay together, wherever that may be. And with my grandparents we'll be able to stay together."

She knew she should be being sympathetic, but four little words were crashing their way around Mercedes' head. She knew she was being selfish but she needed to know.

"But what about _us_?"

So far she'd managed to hold it together, but in the end the words had come out, not as an angry shout as she had expected, but as a choked sob.

Sam finally looked her straight in the eyes but said nothing. Instead he reached out and tried to take her into his arms. She tried to resist, to fight him off, but he was much stronger and before she knew it she was clamped tightly into his embrace.

She refused to stop talking. "It's only seven hours by car to Nashville. Maybe I could drive up every other weekend-"

"Cedes-"

"Yes! We can still work it-"

"Mercy!"

She stopped mid-sentence.

"Your parents would never allow you to make such a long drive on your own."

"But maybe-"

"There's no maybes!"

"You're just being defeatist!"

Sam felt as though he'd been slapped but he didn't fight back. Instead, he took another deep breath and continued. "Besides, we're not going to Nashville. My grandparents live in Memphis. Their house is nearly another four hours from Nashville."

"Memphis?" Her diva voice was out now. "You don't just move to Tennessee, you move to the FURTHEST corner of the state?"

Sam laughed ironically. "I'm really sorry that I didn't choose a more convenient location for my grandparents to be born!"

Mercedes didn't find it funny and fought her way out of his arms, standing and brushing herself down. "You still haven't answered my question!"

He sighed sadly. "Think about it Mercy."

"I thought you cared about me!"

"I do. More than you'll ever know."

"I'm not so sure I believe that anymore!"

He was on his feet too. "Mercy! These have been the best five and a half weeks of my life. Most of it has been spent working and babysitting but being with you, even just for five minutes in a day, makes it all worthwhile. Being with you makes me feel amazing! Makes me feel that I can take on the world. Being with you makes me forget that I'm just some 16 year old dyslexic homeless jock with a broken family and no money. I can't bear to even think about what life would be like without you!"

A tear rolled down his cheek and he didn't even bother to hide it or wipe it away. Everything was on the line and she needed to see his honesty. She needed to see how much this was hurting him.

All Mercedes' anger disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and in a mirror image of what happened in New York, she was the one to take his face in her hands and wipe the tear with her thumb. Her voice choked as she spoke, "In New York you asked me never to let you go. And now _you're_ letting _me_ go. That hurts Sam. That hurts so badly!"

"I'm so sorry. I never saw this coming. I swear if there was anything I could do to possibly change this then it would be done in a heartbeat."

She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. "Why does this feel like goodbye?"

He kissed her back. Harder. "Why did we waste so much time?"

"There had to have been something we could have done!"

But each knew, in their heart of hearts that there wasn't. And each knew that this was doomed.

"I'm sorry Mercy." His tone had changed.

"Sorry for what?"

"For not seeing you. For being sucked into wasting time with Santana when you were right under my nose the whole time!"

"Sam, I didn't see you either. Much as I hate to say this, I think we both have Rachel to thank for helping us to see each other clearly."

"I suppose we do. But now she'll never know!"

"Nobody will ever know. Kurt and Blaine won't tell and I'm sure nobody will believe the JBI!"

"How am I going to cope without you?" She was back in his arms, willingly this time.

"I've been asking myself the same question," he whispered into her hair, "It'll be hard. But we will. Eventually. Somehow..."

"But I don't want to!" He could feel her starting to shake and sob.

"Neither do I! But we have our entire futures ahead of us. You'll meet someone. Someone with a good heart. Someone who thinks you're beautiful. Who sees your beauty the way I see it. Someone who realizes that your smile has the ability to make them feel like a million dollars. You'll move on. Just as long as you promise to never forget me."

"How can I? They say the first cut is the deepest." She held on to him tightly desperately pretending she hadn't just heard his words. "And you definitely have to go to your grandparents?"

He nodded. "The hospital called them as next of kin as well as my mom. As soon as they heard what's been happening they ordered us to come back. Even if my dad had a job he's not fit for work. Meemaw is a retired nurse so she can look after him and if we leave soon there's time to organize getting us all into local schools before the next Semester."

Mercedes stiffened and pulled back. "I'm not going!"

"What?"

"I'm not going to Florida!"

"Mercy it's not up to-"

"If you have to go then I can stay. We can spend the few last days together without my parents being around. Randelle is in love. She'll understand why I have to do this."

"Mercy-"

"It'll be fine! I'll talk to my parents now!"

He wanted to shake her. "Listen to yourself! You know as well as I do that your parents would never allow you to skip out on this trip. You're going to visit family. And they would especially never allow you to be home alone while I'm in the vicinity."

"But I'll just explain-"

"There is nothing to explain. Your flight is leaving to Florida this afternoon with you on it. I know the timing sucks but we can't change it. At least this way we have the chance to say goodbye. If the accident had happened tomorrow I would have been gone with no explanation by the time you got back!"

Mercedes couldn't bear the think about that scenario.

"Are you really sure we can't make this work Sam? Don't your grandparents have a computer? We can Skype and Facebook and I'm sure they'll get you a phone-"

Again he shook his head. "I'm sorry to be the voice of reason but we'd only be fighting the inevitable. It's our senior year. Your parents will be on at you to focus and work hard for your exams. There won't be any space for properly cultivating a long distance relationship. There won't be any time for travelling to see each other except in the breaks and things always end up being more complicated than we think they'll be. While I'm in Memphis I won't be working so my family will expect me to work hard at school. My grades have dropped a hell of a lot since we moved to the motel and I need to get them back to a better level. My grandparents will be organizing extra tutoring with someone who has experience in helping kids with dyslexia. Plus there's also the issue of College. I wasn't going to think about it until closer to the time, but I know you have your heart set on going to an out of State college like your brother but I would never have brains or the resources to be able to do that. If we'd been together longer maybe we could have come up with something but the way things are at the moment-"

"Oh I _see_ the way things are at the moment." She had stiffened again. "The way things are is that I was just your summer fling!"

"You know that's not true!"

"You had no real intention of seeing this through Sam!"

He had to bite his tongue to refrain from saying what he truly felt. He hated seeing her angry and he especially hated knowing that it was his fault.

At this point, he could quite happily have gone down on one knee, pulled out a ring and asked her to be his forever. But that would have been the wrong thing to do and he knew it. She would never take him seriously after the promise ring he gave Quinn. And why should she? Five and a half weeks shouldn't be enough time for a sixteen year old to decide that he'd already found the person that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. As much as he had wanted to take things slow to prove to her just how much he felt for her, it was also a test for him. To make sure that he was definitely not making another stupid mistake. And he was more than sure that this was something beyond special...

He thought about what he had said to his father when he had insulted Mercedes and he knew that he would fight to the death for this girl.

He truly loved her.

But because he loved her he had to let her go.

And it broke his heart.

This time the tears came in earnest.

He didn't want her to hate him. He wanted her to see what he saw. He wanted her to feel what he felt.

But she never would.

If her hating him was what it took for her to be able to heal then he loved her enough to let it happen that way.

He'd fallen hard and he could never expect her to understand that. Hell, he didn't understand it himself. And yet it _had_ happened. And now here he was, yet again broken hearted.

But this time it was so much worse than it had been with Quinn.

This time he felt as though his forever had just been ripped away from him.

They stood in silence for what felt like an eternity before they suddenly returned to reality with a quick time check.

"Mercy! We have to get you back! Your mom asked us not to be too long."

"Just a couple more minutes."

"I don't want your parent's last impression to be of hating me!"

Mercedes couldn't argue with that logic. She wanted to argue but instead took his hand.

She wanted to hate him for abandoning her. For opening up in her places and passions that she didn't know existed and then ripping them away in one sudden movement. For a moment last night she'd come to realize that this boy may well be her first, her last and her everything. And she was okay with that. In fact. She was more than okay with it.

But now they would never know.

Now _she_ would never know.

They walked back down the street in silence. There was still so much they wanted to say to each other but the power of speech seemed to have eluded them both. They were focused on an indeterminate spot in the future where they would no longer have each other, and they didn't like what they were seeing.

Sam finally broke the silence as her house came into view. "We need to ask you one last favor."

"Anything."

"Well, we don't really want people knowing about my dad and the drinking and everything and pitying us so we're going to tell people we're moving because he got a job. You're the only one who knows. Can you help us keep our secret?"

She squeezed his hand. "Of course. Your secret's safe with me."

They continued the walk in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Each wanting to tell the other how they truly felt, but too scared to reveal it.

Before they knew it they were back at her front porch.

They both sighed at exactly the same time, staring the front door.

This was it.

She turned and he kissed her. So soft. So gentle he almost didn't feel it. Just like their very first kiss.

He brushed her hair away from her face. "Mercy, I'll never forget this summer. Thank you for giving me the happiest times of my life."

She nodded. Wanting to say the same but not being able to form words without sobbing, eventually settling for a touch on his cheek and one final look into those emerald green eyes which had now become to her like Kryptonite.

She felt the sob rising and knew that she had to turn and go. It's like ripping off a Band Aid. Just yank. Don't prolong it!

She fought with the keys in the door. And pushed her way in.

"Nga yawne lu oer!"

And she was gone.

* * *

Michael Jones had the optimal view of the front door from his office. It had proved very useful in ensuring the kids had kept to their curfew times.

This time he watched as his daughter and Sam slowly walked on to the front porch to the door. While they were gone his wife had filled him in on the sad state of affairs in the Evans household and he wasn't going to interrupt them.

He watched as they approached the door, hand in hand, heads bowed, in total silence. He could only begin to imagine the conversation that they had just had. But he was relieved that Mercedes hadn't come running back to the house alone and crying. It took a certain level of maturity to be able to talk things through and not hate each other at the end and he respected that.

As they stood outside the door she turned to him and he kissed her very tenderly and whispered something in her ear while stroking her hair.

She nodded in seeming agreement, touching his face before opening the door.

He called something after her as she went through but the door was already shutting and she was already running up to her room sobbing. Alicia hurriedly followed her up the stairs. Whatever he had said she would probably never know.

Michael Jones resisted the urge to follow his wife and daughter up the stairs, instead choosing to keep his attention on the boy outside.

He watched as Sam stood, still facing the closed door, an expression of acute sadness and loss on his face. He pressed his hand against it as though it were his last connection with his daughter.

Finally he broke down, sitting on the front porch, curled up in a small ball with his head buried between his knees, his shoulders heaving with sobs.

Michael Jones knew that the boy was truly broken. And it was an image that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Finally he pulled himself away from the window, feeling that he was intruding in Sam's personal moment, and hurried up the stairs to see if he could help comfort his daughter. He'd clearly underestimated the depth of feeling between these kids.

* * *

As the Jones' car pulled out of the driveway and down their street, the trunk loaded with luggage, Mercedes stared silently out of the window, her eyes still filled with tears.

And as they drove past the small recreation area her eyes were drawn to the large tree they usually sat under.

Today was the day that everything changed.

There would be no more sitting under trees with Sam Evans.

**_THE END_**

_**Nga yawne lu oer = I love you (obviously)**_

_**Have no fear, the concluding fic Wild Young Hearts is complete and coming shortly. I'm making some changes to it as I post. **_


End file.
